


Grace

by faithharkness



Series: The Graceverse [2]
Category: Torchwood
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anal Sex, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Het, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Male Slash, Oral Sex, PTSD, The Graceverse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-29
Updated: 2013-10-01
Packaged: 2017-11-15 05:53:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 76
Words: 140,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/523870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/faithharkness/pseuds/faithharkness
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>Grace is the thing that picks you up off the floor, but it’s also the thing that knocks you off your pedestal.  Either way you keep growing and keep changing, because that’s what it wants from you:  better.</i>			~Jacob Clifton</p><p>Or, Jack returns from the Year of Hell that Never Was and must learn to live his life again.<br/>As always, Torchwood adapts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Coming Home

**Author's Note:**

> This fic goes off canon from the time Jack walks away from the Doctor and Martha at the end of _The Last of the Time Lords_. The fic is complete and I'm going to try posting 5 chapters a day to get it fully uploaded here to AO3.
> 
> The character deaths were resolved when the world reset, but they are described here in the fic. The rape/non-con is mainly of the mental variety, but I didn't want to _not_ warn for it.
> 
> Also, I own nothing but the order of the words and my OCs. All recognizable elements of _Torchwood_ belong to the BBC and RTD. And, I'd argue, Steven Moffat for Jack.

He had done it. Was still doing it, actually. He was walking away from the Doctor. A tiny, annoying voice in his head said it was because he was still pissed off that the Doctor had left him behind, had called him wrong. But the rest of his brain knew that was a lie. And his heart certainly knew it was a lie.

This team was his responsibility. And when he had left, he had gotten them all killed. He picked up his pace, wondering if they were back from the errand to the Himalayas. If not, he would wait. He would wait forever for them to return, to forgive him for leaving. Even if they hadn’t really been murdered simply because he cared about him. Because they were another way to make him hurt. To kill him inside. He would carry that loss, that guilt around with him for the rest of his very long life. 

Jack paused outside the tourist office door, fixing a carefree grin on his face. He couldn’t let them see. He tucked it further down, further away, where it would never touch them. Close your eyes and it’ll go away.

Ianto wasn’t at the information desk. Jack told himself that was fine; they probably weren’t back yet. He pressed the button for the hidden door and walked down into the Hub.

He stopped just inside the cog door and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath as the door closed behind him, filling his senses with the sounds and smells of the Hub.

“Sir?”

Jack’s eyes shot open and he saw Ianto standing just outside Jack’s office door.

A sob escaped Jack’s throat before he could stop it, before he could put his façade back in place.

“Where is everyone?” he asked.

“They’re probably landing at Heathrow right about now. They should be back here in a few hours.”

It was then that Jack noticed the cast encasing Ianto’s right forearm.

“What happened?” he asked, hurrying over to Ianto and gently taking his arm in his hands. Something was wrong. Ianto hadn’t been wearing a cast when the Master’s goons had brought him before Jack. When they started…

Ianto chuckled. “This? It’s nothing. Fake cast. Owen will take it off when he’s back.”

“What? Why?”

“Well, I needed an excuse to not be going to the Himalayas. We argued that a wounded man, a mere archivist, wouldn’t be much use in the field. This way, I could stay here and monitor if they caught you and your friends. Give you aid if you could find a way to me.”

Jack kissed him quickly, soundly. “You are a genius, Ianto Jones.”

“Hardly,” Ianto said softly, touching Jack’s cheek with his left hand.

And in that moment, Jack saw it in Ianto’s eyes. Oh gods, he knew. He remembered. Only .07% of the Earth’s population would even sense something was amiss with time. A fraction of that number would remember everything that had happened.

And the man he loved was one of that fraction.


	2. Back in Hell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we learn part of what happened to Jack and Team Torchwood in the Year of Hell That Never Was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first character death from the Year of Hell That Never Was is in this chapter. So you are warned.

“Are you ready for this, Jack? Oooo, you’re going to love this!” the Master laughed, clapping his hands and dancing around like a small child. A small, sadistic, hell-spawned mutant child.

Jack eyed him with defiance, having learned that showing even a touch of wariness brought painful retribution—and not just on him. He fixed a sardonic smile on his face, working to keep the pain out of his expression. 

“How’s the shoulder, Jack?” the Master asked. He had dislocated the shoulder personally three days ago, to see if Jack’s body would repair the damage on its own. He was rather disappointed that it hadn’t. Of course, keeping Jack chained with his arms over his head probably wasn’t conducive to healing.

“Not great. I’d kill for a good massage. Hell, at this point, I’d kill you for a decent one,” Jack replied with his usual bravado.

The Master threw back his head and laughed, then patted Jack on the cheek. “That’s my Freak!”

Jack gritted his teeth, trying extremely hard to keep his temper as the Master walked around him, inspecting his injuries. He seemed intent on figuring out Jack’s body’s recovery times for different types of wounds.

“Do you want to see what I have for you?” the Master breathed into his ear.

Jack fought down his body’s automatic response: to jerk away from the voice and the expected blow.

“Do I really have a choice?” he replied.

“No! But one must always have manners,” the Master said, walking over to the door and opening it with a flourish.

Two of the Master’s goons, the ones Jack had dubbed Mutt and Jeff, dragged in a slight figure with a black cloth over its head.

“Ta-dah!” the Master said, pulling away the cloth to reveal a bruised and bloodied Toshiko Sato.

Jack screamed at the Master inside his mind, safely behind the walls he had built so long ago in defense of psychic invasion.

“Now THIS one,” the Master said, taking Tosh’s arm and jerking her upright, “led us on a merry chase. Took forever to get her. Which was rather nice, after how easily two others of this crack team of yours fell.”

Jack refused to ask which two. Refused to even think the names of his colleagues. His friends.

“Jack,” Tosh said hoarsely.

“Do you want to know how we got this one?” the Master asked, shoving Tosh to her knees.

Jack winced as he heard bone crack. At least one of Tosh’s kneecaps had broken. He shook his head slightly, composing himself.

“She’s a damn scientist. Probably caught her hiding in a closet,” he sneered, trying to throw the Master off.

“No!” the Master said, slapping Jack. “Pay attention! I said she led us a merry chase. That means she wasn’t just hiding somewhere.”

“Of course. Sorry, your ramblings tend to run together. They get hard to follow,” Jack replied.

The Master smiled, then whirled around and punched Toshiko. He hauled her by her hair back onto her knees a moment later.

“Jack, if you’re going to be that way, I’m not going to tell you the story.”

“Sorry. Please, indulge yourself,” Jack replied.

The Master sighed and patted Toshiko on the top of her head.

“This is not nearly as much fun as I expected,” he sighed.

“Happy to disappoint,” Jack said.

“She almost made it back to England. We killed two of them in an airport in Frankfurt. Caught her in Calais.”

“Oh.”

The Master waved his hands in front of his face. “I had a much better version of that, but since you’re not willing to play…”

Before Jack could even think, the Master snapped Toshiko’s neck.

“NOOO!” Jack screamed.

“See? If we had started with that, she might still be alive.”  
******

He was going to get out of this. The Doctor’s plan, whatever it was, would work. Martha would come back and together, they would defeat the Master. He believed that; had to believe that. He had faith. Faith had been enough to pull him through the darkness before; he knew it would save him again. He just had to bide his time and keep his wits about him.

Tosh…

He shook his head. He could mourn her later. Right now, he had to survive.

“Ah good, you’re awake!” the Master said cheerily as he entered the cell.

After murdering Tosh, the Master had shot Jack through the heart. When he awoke, he was in a wooden chair, each leg lashed to the chair’s legs and his arms firmly strapped to the arms of the chair. He had only tried freeing himself once; he had discovered sharp wire embedded in the leather, tearing his flesh as he tried to escape.

“Did you learn your lesson?” he asked, leaning close to Jack.

“That you’ll kill me whenever you like? Yeah, I learned that one five months ago.”

The Master slapped him hard enough to snap Jack’s head to the side. 

“No. If you won’t show some manners when I put effort into something, I’m going to do things that hurt you. Deep in your soul. And while you don’t have a mark on you from all I’ve put you through these past months, I’m willing to bet your soul is a spiderweb of scars,” the Master whispered softly in his ear.

“My soul. My scars,” Jack ground out.

“No, Jack. They’re my scars. And every one of them makes me hard,” he said, then bit Jack’s ear.

Jack forced himself not to move. Eventually, the Master released his ear and stepped away.

“Oh dear. Where has all the romance gone?” he asked, stroking Jack’s cheek. Then his eyes lit up. “I think I know. Wait just a second.”

He virtually hopped to the door, then opened it and walked into the hall. “Ah. Perfect timing. I expected as much. I do so appreciate good manners.”

Jack’s eyes widened in horror as the Master walked back in, pushing a wheelchair in front of him. A wheelchair bearing Ianto Jones.


	3. In Hell and at Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which The Master does some truly awful things to torture Jack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second Major Character Death from The Year of Hell That Never Was. Also, a _lot_ of violence and torture in this one, including implied non-con and non-con of the mental/psychic variety.

_NOW_  
The sob got caught in his throat this time, sounding uncomfortably like a mewl.

Ianto took Jack’s hand and placed it over his own heart. He held it there for a few moments, letting Jack feel the beat and hear the sound. Then he moved his hand and cupped Jack’s cheek.

“It’s all right. I’m all right,” Ianto said.

Jack shook his head slowly. “What do you remember? What exactly do you remember?” he asked hoarsely.

“All of it. Well, up until—”

“You died,” Jack finished, hollow.

Ianto nodded, his eyes still locked on Jack’s. 

“Up until I died,” he agreed solemnly.  
******

 _THEN_  
Ianto’s head lolled against the back of the wheelchair. Jack had to watch carefully to see the rise and fall of Ianto’s chest.

“What’s this?” Jack managed to ask, pushing through his fear.

“Jack? Don’t you recognize him? It’s Ianto Jones!” the Master said, taking a handful of Ianto’s hair and moving the younger man’s head around by it. “Of course, he is a little unconscious right now, which is rather rude of him,” the Master finished, pulling out the handful of hair. 

Ianto cried out into wakefulness.

“Aha! There we are! Good morning Mr. Jones.”

Ianto just clenched his jaw and glared at the man.

“Really, Freak, don’t a single one of you have any manners?” the Master asked Jack before punching Ianto in the mouth.

Jack winced internally. “If you break his jaw, he can’t answer you,” he said reasonably.

“Ooo, hadn’t thought of that. You are right, of course.”

The Master stood back from Ianto, observing him. “Yes. I should keep away from the face. Quite right.”

He walked over to Jack and patted him on the cheek. “I don’t know how to thank you.”

“You could let me go.”

The Master wagged a finger at him. “Ah, ah, ah, Freak! I don’t think so! No, I’m just going to take Ianto here and have a talk with him about manners,” he said, walking behind the wheelchair. “We’ll be back later.”

It took everything Jack had to remain still; to not lunge for the Master as he rolled Ianto out of the room. Ianto, who had kept his gaze on Jack for as long as he could before he was taken out of the room. He told himself that the Master wouldn’t torture Ianto without an audience; taking him out of the room was just psychological torture for Jack. He couldn’t let the Master see how worried he was. The Master already had a lever in the Doctor; he wouldn’t give him a fixed point.  
******

“How are you doing, Freak?” the Master asked as he trotted into the room.

Jack didn’t answer, just glared at him.

“Want to know how my morning with Ianto went?”

“Anything to break the monotony of Mutt and Jeff coming in to crack my ribs once an hour.”

“Jack, Jack, Jack. Haven’t you figured out yet that the monotony is all part of my Master Plan?” he said, laughing at his own joke.

“Then it’s succeeding well,” Jack said, smiling.

“Well, you’ll be happy to know that you didn’t miss too much of the fun. I only pushed him to find out his consciousness limit. We saved the real fun for your viewing pleasure.”

The Master put a finger under Jack’s chin and tilted his head up, looking at him intently. “Hmmm. I think you’re wearing too many clothes for this next bit.”

He snapped his fingers and Mutt and Jeff came in.

“Now, are you going to behave and let these men do what they have to do or am I going to have to kill you?”

“You’re going to have to kill me.”

“Think very carefully. If I kill you, I have to think of something to do to entertain myself until you wake up again. And Ianto Jones may be many things, but boring is not one of them.”

Jack swallowed. “Fine.”

He allowed the two goons to tug him roughly out of the chair and strip him naked. Once that task was done, they led him to the corner and pulled his arms up, locking him into the now-familiar cuffs. The Master pulled a lever, which drew the chains up, straining Jack’s arms and stretching his body until he was satisfied with the tension. Jack’s toes were barely brushing the ground.

“Now, gentlemen, do go get me my tray,” the Master said.

Jack tried to hide his reaction. The tray had every torture device Jack could think of, and a few he had recently been introduced to. 

The tray was brought in and the Master took a moment to caress each instrument. He finally selected a boning knife with an ivory handle. He tapped the point of the blade against his finger as he walked over to Jack. 

“I’ve blocked out the rest of my day for you, Freak. Holding all calls from the huddling masses, pausing in designs for my weapons and even taking time out of deciding the playlist for my next conquest. The only question that remains is: am I going to torture you and let Ianto watch, or am I going to torture Ianto while you watch and twitch against your chains? Any thoughts?”

Jack briefly considered swinging himself up and kicking the Master in the chest. But he knew all that would do would ensure that Ianto was tortured first.

“Torture him. I could use a good show,” Jack said.

The Master smiled at him. “Funny. He suggested I should torture you. Some loyalty all of you have there.”

Jack closed his eyes, knowing why Ianto had asked that they torture Jack. Ianto knew about Jack’s past, about the time Jack had watched his friend, his lover, be tortured to death in front of his eyes. He knew Ianto wouldn’t want him to watch that again. But he also knew what it would do to Ianto’s empathic soul to have to see Jack tortured. 

He suddenly wanted to know how many regenerations the Master had left so he could take them all in slow succession.

“Oh, don’t worry, Jack. I worked on him for a while and I think he’s learned a lesson about loyalty. But don’t take my word for it, see for yourself!” he said, walking to the door and opening it. “Bring him in,” he said to someone in the hall. 

Ianto was wheeled in on an upright gurney. Drying blood from a wound near his hairline covered the left side of his face. His right eye was swollen shut and his hands, his beautiful hands, were bleeding. His tie and suit jacket were missing, his usually perfectly pressed shirt was unbuttoned and torn at the sleeves. He still had his pants on, but they were torn and bloody. His feet were bare, a sight which, more than anything else, screamed vulnerability. Jack wasn’t sure he had ever really seen Ianto’s feet before. 

Mutt and Jeff stopped the gurney a few feet away from Jack and locked the wheels, then stood to the side. Ianto lifted his head to meet Jack’s gaze. Jack saw pain and fear in Ianto’s eyes. But he also saw love and faith. Faith in Jack. 

“So, what we have here is a corker of a conundrum. Whom should I torture? I mean, each one of you has valiantly volunteered the other for my special attention. I just don’t know what to do,” the Master said, pacing between the two bound men.

“Well, you’ve played with the Freak before,” Mutt offered.

“Yeah, play with the new guy,” Jeff agreed, his eyes shining with barely-concealed lust.

The Master stopped in front of Jack and grinned. “You’ll have to forgive them. I didn’t let anyone in to see my earlier session with Ianto. I thought he’d be more comfortable in private. He seemed shy. Reserved,” he said, walking over to Ianto and stroking a hand down his cheek.

Ianto didn’t jerk away. Jack smiled at Ianto’s resolve.

The Master turned back to study Jack. “Of course, this time I’ll have to leave the door open while they wait in the hall. Just to make sure you don’t do anything foolish.”

Jack’s eyes widened. The Master was going to torture Ianto first. And there was a very real possibility that he would do something foolish to stop it.

With a gesture, the Master dismissed Mutt and Jeff, who actually had the brains to keep from voicing their displeasure at being sent outside the room.

“Sir,” Ianto said quietly, warning.

“‘Sir’? Three hours with him and I couldn’t get him to say ouch. You volunteer him to be tortured and he calls you sir. Now that is interesting.”

“I sign his paychecks.”

The Master laughed sharply; the laugh that told Jack things were about to get very bad very quickly. The laugh that said he had taken it one step too far. Normally, this meant Jack would receive a severe beating. Today, Jack had no idea what it would mean; and that terrified him.

“You are done playing now, Freak,” the Master said quietly. He looked down at his hands, as though he had forgotten the knife until just that moment.

“No,” Jack breathed.

The Master grinned before walking back over to Ianto. He stood beside the bound man, his voice just loud enough for Jack to hear what he said into Ianto’s ear. “Do you know, Ianto, that Jack has not let me into his mind once since he’s been here? I’ve spent considerable time trying to pull his secrets out. But his mind is a steel trap.” He leaned forward and slowly licked the blood off Ianto’s cheek. He turned to look at Jack, Ianto’s blood wet on his tongue. “His heart, however, seems to be another matter.”

Jack started thinking, very loudly, about all the things he wanted to do to the Master.

“Too late, Freak. There will be no distracting me now,” he said, tearing Ianto’s shirt away to reveal Ianto’s bruised and bloodied torso. 

Jack bit back a gasp and forced himself not to look away.

Ianto was unable to hide the furious blush that exploded at his sudden half-nakedness. Jack closed his eyes and thought comforting thoughts, hoping Ianto would connect to him and calm.

A sharp jab to his kidneys forced Jack to snap his eyes back open. “Try that again, Freak, and Ianto loses a body part,” the Master hissed.

“Do I get to pick which one?” Jack asked, hoping to goad the Master into turning his attention away from Ianto.

The Master chuckled, then whirled to slice the knife across Ianto’s chest. It wasn’t a particularly deep wound, but the blood began to pour freely, if not quickly.

Ianto gasped and bit his lip against the pain.

“That’s what I like to hear. Pain. Let’s see if we can get something a little more articulate out of you.”

He turned to wink at Jack, then plunged the knife into Ianto’s left shoulder. This time, Ianto screamed.

“Very good!” the Master said, clapping his hands. 

He left the knife embedded in Ianto’s shoulder and went back over to his tray. He selected a small whip and walked over to Ianto, whose head had dropped forward.

“Uh, uh, uh,” the Master said, using the whip’s handle to tilt Ianto’s head up. “Now it’s your turn to watch.”

Ianto grit his teeth and looked straight ahead at Jack. Jack, who, although naked and bloody from his earlier attempt to escape the chair, looked whole and calm to Ianto’s eyes. Jack nodded slightly.

The Master walked behind Jack, then to the side so he could see Ianto’s face as he wielded the whip.

Jack pressed his lips together, refusing to give the Master the luxury of a scream. Up to this point, he had never cried out and if he did now, the Master would know it was because of Ianto.

After about two dozen lashes with the whip, the Master got bored. Ianto had bitten his lip to keep from crying out as the whip cut into Jack’s flesh. He had bitten through and Ianto could taste his own blood in his mouth.

A maniacal twinkle appeared in the Master’s eye as he looked at Ianto. He dropped the whip carelessly and strode to Ianto. He took a handful of Ianto’s hair in one hand and gripped his chin in the other, forcing his mouth open. He plunged his tongue into Ianto’s mouth, lapping at the blood.

“Mmmm,” he said, turning to Jack. “That was almost as good as champagne. Have you tried?” he asked, walking over to Jack.

Jack barely had time to brace himself before the Master shoved his tongue into his mouth; almost gagged at the coppery taste of Ianto’s blood.

“Now, Freak. Was that displeasure at my technique or the flavor of young Ianto?” the Master asked, staring into Jack’s eyes.

Jack spat bloody saliva into his face.

The Master kicked him in the balls.

Jack barely stopped the wounded groan that rumbled in his throat.

“You see, Ianto? The only thing Jack responds to is violence. So let’s do some, shall we?” he asked, picking up a small mallet and a pair of scissors.

He cut Ianto’s pants off, occasionally letting the scissors slide into flesh as he worked.

“What do you think, Jack? Kneecaps or tibias?” the Master asked.

“Why should I care? You’ll do both anyway,” Jack replied through gritted teeth.

“Yes, I suppose I will,” he said, then swung the mallet at Ianto’s left knee.

Ianto howled in pain and Jack couldn’t help but wince at the sound of bone cracking.

Jack recovered quickly and stared straight at the Master, forcing a bored expression on his face. 

“Jack, you’re not showing the proper appreciation!” the Master yelled, advancing on him.

“And you’re not showing the proper attention. He’s passed out,” Jack replied.

“What? Oh bollocks!” the Master yelled, walking over to Ianto. He reached out and put two fingers on the pulse in Ianto’s neck. Satisfied that he was, indeed, unconscious, he pulled out the knife in Ianto’s shoulder.

“Would you like another taste?” the Master asked, holding the bloodied knife out to Jack.

“Thanks, I’ll pass.”

The Master sighed and tossed the knife and the mallet onto the tray. With a petulant pace, he walked over to Ianto and released the straps holding him onto the gurney. 

Ianto’s unconscious body landed on the floor with a sickening thud.

“I think I’ll go have dinner now. I’ll be back after dessert,” the Master said, giving a swift kick to Ianto’s ribs before leaving the room.

Mutt and Jeff came in to remove the tray.

“He’s going to bleed to death if you two idiots don’t do something,” Jack growled.

Jeff, obviously upset about only being allowed to listen to the torture, walked over to Ianto and stepped down on Ianto’s wounded shoulder, making it bleed more freely.

“Yep, probably,” he said.

Jack took a deep breath. “If he dies, your Master can’t torture him any more. He’ll probably get pissy about that.”

“He’s right, you know,” Mutt said.

“Come on,” Jack said, using his most charming smile, “let me out of these so I can at least put some pressure on the wound.”

Jeff walked over to stand in front of Jack. “I think I’d prefer to take him out of here. Treat him myself,” he said, licking his lips.

Jack’s skin began to crawl. The disgust overrode his sense and he headbutted Jeff.

Jeff screamed and drew his gun.

The world went black.  
******

Jack woke up on the floor of the cell. He was staring at Ianto’s face. Ianto’s very pale face.

“No,” Jack whispered, crawling over to him. Thick, dark blood pooled underneath the younger man. Jack rolled Ianto over into his lap, pulling him up so his head was cradled against Jack’s shoulder.

“Come on, Ianto,” he whispered, patting Ianto’s cheek.

Ianto remained still and cold against him. 

Jack pulled Ianto’s body closer, wrapping his arms around him tightly, rocking him, willing his warmth into his lover.

Please.

Jack wondered briefly if it was too late to try bringing him back again. But for what? To be tortured to death again?

“I’m so sorry, Ianto,” he breathed against Ianto’s forehead.

He had no idea how long he sat there, rocking Ianto and praying to any gods that were listening that this wasn’t real. He barely noticed the cell door opening.

“You’ve cost me one of my best men, Freak,” the Master said, his face dark with anger.

“Go to hell,” Jack muttered, not looking up.

“I had to kill him after he emptied that entire clip into you. You were supposed to be alive to watch Ianto die.”

The Master dropped to his haunches beside Jack. “That would have been exquisite to watch.”

“You bastard,” Jack said in a very dark, very quiet voice.

The Master grabbed Jack’s face in his hands, forcing him to meet his gaze. “Ah, there they go. Those magnificent shields crumbling down,” he whispered, before entering Jack’s mind.

Jack screamed as the Master invaded, tearing out every thought, every memory Jack had of Ianto.

The Master gasped and pulled back, his eyes on Jack’s. He fought to catch his breath as the memories he had just stolen, just raped from Jack’s mind, poured through him.

“Oh dear,” he said, a smile lighting his eyes even as he pouted. “I killed him too quickly.”


	4. The Master's Interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the Doctor and the Master discuss Jack.

“This is my favorite part. I realize I’ve said that a dozen times already, but it really is,” the Master said, leaning closer to the Doctor as they watched the CCTV recording.

Jack was on the floor, rocking Ianto’s body.

“Look how naked he is. And not just physically,” the Master whispered.

The Doctor stared at the screen. The Master had shown him this recording a dozen times, his glee never wavering. The Doctor felt sick. He had been forced to watch Jack be physically tortured before, sometimes in person, but this was the worst.

“Rock, rock, rock. I couldn’t take it any longer, I had to go in.”

The Master reached out and finally, mercifully, turned off the viewscreen.

“But do you know what my favorite part really is?”

The Doctor shook his head.

“It’s that after all I’ve done to him, he’s never let me in his mind. After all I’ve done to you and threatened to do to you if he didn’t let me in, he’s remained closed. He didn’t care enough about you to let me in. But that boy—that HUMAN,” he sneered. “ _HE_ breaks your pet Freak.”

The Doctor just stared at him.

“You, a Time Lord, mean less to him than an ape with a handful of years!”

The Doctor remained silent.

The Master stood up and towered over him. “Answer me, damn you! He wouldn’t break for you, but he breaks for a human. A human! How could he possibly be worthy of you?!” he shouted into the Doctor’s face.

“He can still love,” the Doctor whispered.


	5. Warmth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Ianto begins to help Jack heal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for ramifications of torture and PTSD.

“Oh gods, Ianto. There aren’t words,” Jack whispered. 

There weren’t, not really. Nothing he could say. If Ianto hadn’t remembered the Year of Hell That Never Was, Jack could have kept his mask in place; could have gone back to his old life and left that Year tucked deep down in the darkness of his soul. He could have survived because he knew his team was safe and didn’t remember what had happened to them because of him. But Ianto knew. Ianto remembered. In the face of that, Jack’s resolve crumbled.

“Yes, there are,” Ianto said. 

“What?” Jack asked. He had become lost in his own personal hell for a moment.

“There are words. Very simple words. I’m alive. You’re alive. We’re here,” he said softly, leaning forward to kiss him.

Jack flinched, just barely, as Ianto’s lips touched his.

“Jack?”

Jack licked his lips and traced Ianto’s jaw with his fingers. “It’s just…I mean…You…”

Ianto nodded and walked Jack over to the couch. He sat down beside Jack, not touching him, but close enough for Jack to reach him if he needed him.

“How long?” Ianto asked.

“What?” Jack asked, his fingers tracing the backs of Ianto’s hands. Hands that weren’t bloody and bruised anymore.

It had not escaped his notice that Jack couldn’t stop touching him. Light touches, yes, but desperate for the contact all the same.

“How long after were you with him?”

“Seven months,” Jack whispered, not wanting to tell him but unable to lie.

“Oh gods, Jack,” he said, brushing a kiss against his forehead.

“Ianto, I need…I need…” he gasped out, clutching at the lapels of Ianto’s jacket. He paused for a moment, trying to bury it again. He couldn’t live like this, with it so close to the surface. He had to be in the here and now, he needed to lead.

“What do you need, Jack?” Ianto asked softly.

“You. I need to see you. I need to know—”

Ianto stood up and held out his hand to Jack. “Then I’ll show you. Come on.”

Jack took his hand and allowed himself to be led away from the couch. 

“No,” he said as they reached his office.

“Jack?”

“The showers.”

Ianto nodded and changed direction. 

Ianto stopped in the locker room and slowly slid the greatcoat off Jack’s shoulders, then put it in a locker. “I’ll get it dry cleaned,” he explained.

Jack nodded, reaching out for Ianto. “Shower,” he said against his cheek.

Ianto nodded, following him to one of the shower rooms.

Jack stopped beside the bench in the shower room and turned to look at Ianto. Gone was the expression he usually had when he thought about getting Ianto out of his clothes. There was no joy or lust; he looked lost.

Ianto gently pushed Jack down to sit on the bench. Jack had said he needed to see, so he would show him. He would show him that his flesh bore no new scars, no remnants of his time on the Valiant or his work with the Resistance. 

Ianto unbuttoned his suit coat and turned to hang it up on the hook. He caught Jack’s faint smile out of the corner of his eye. He turned back to Jack and slowly unbuttoned his waistcoat and slid out of it, folding it and setting it on the bench beside Jack. His tie was next, the knot a little difficult with his cast. 

When Ianto’s hands reached for the buttons on his shirt, Jack made a soft noise in his throat. Ianto quickly undid the buttons and stripped off the shirt, tossing it aside and stepping closer to Jack in one motion.

Jack reached out and lightly traced Ianto’s chest, where the Master’s knife had sliced him. His hand trailed up and covered the place on Ianto’s shoulder where the knife had been embedded. Where there should have been a gaping fatal wound there was smooth, warm, unmarked skin. 

“Jack,” Ianto said softly.

Jack shook his head. He couldn’t speak. He could only touch, only feel. Ianto’s skin was smooth and warm beneath his touch; not cold and clammy as it had been the last time he’d touched him. Oh gods, the last time…

So cold; the cold steel floor of the cell leaching warmth from him. Warmth he was trying desperately to force into Ianto’s body. Warmth that was leaving him and would never return.

Jack shuddered, so hard that it went through him and into Ianto at the places his hands rested. Ianto took Jack’s hands and kissed them, then pulled away to open the glass door to the shower. He leaned in and turned the water on: full blast and hot.

“No scars,” Jack said through teeth that began to chatter. 

“No scars,” Ianto replied, gently pulling Jack to his feet.

Hurriedly, but gently, Ianto stripped Jack out of his clothes. His task was made harder by the fact that Jack was still shuddering and trying to pull himself into a ball to preserve warmth. Ianto toed off his shoes and wrapped his arms around Jack, walking them both into the shower. He pulled the glass door closed behind them, shutting out the cooler air of the room. 

Ianto turned Jack so they were completely under the hot, pounding spray of water. He held Jack close with one arm, not wanting the cast to distract him. Finally, Jack stopped shivering and stepped slightly away from Ianto. Ianto let his arm drop to his side.

“You still have your pants on,” Jack said, blankly.

Ianto smiled. “Didn’t quite have time to get out of them; I needed to get you in the shower.”

No smile, no glint of mischief at what Jack would have normally taken as an invitation to be gloriously inappropriate.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

“It’s all right.”

“No, it’s really not.”

“Jack,” he began, then paused as Jack began caressing his bare skin. 

Jack leaned forward, kissing wounds that weren’t there.

“No scars,” he breathed against Ianto’s skin.

_A spiderweb of scars._

Jack pulled back as if he had been struck.

“Jack?”

“I can’t…”

“You’re home. You’re safe,” Ianto reassured him.

“I know.” _But I’m not._

Ianto stood there, wanting to reach out to Jack but afraid of invading. Even with his mental shields up, Ianto could feel one emotion washing out of Jack with every breath.

Blame.

“I’m going to go put some dry clothes on before the others get here,” Ianto said softly.

Jack nodded. “I’ll be up soon.”

“I’ll have coffee ready for you,” he said, opening the shower door.

“You don’t have to,” Jack replied softly.

Ianto paused and looked at Jack, surrounded by steam and soaking wet, and his heart broke at the site. Jack not only blamed himself, he thought Ianto should blame him, too. Ianto had a feeling it would take him a long time to break Jack of that notion; he had been blaming himself for seven months. Gods, it was a wonder he could even bring himself to look at Ianto.

“I know, Jack. I want to,” Ianto said, holding Jack’s gaze.

Jack nodded, his shoulders relaxing slightly.

It was a start.


	6. Broken Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Ianto makes a phone call and Jack reunites with the rest of Torchwood 3.

Jack stayed in the shower, his forehead against the familiar tiles as the water beat down upon him. Gods, all he had wanted to do was hold on to Ianto. Ianto, who was whole and without wounds. Ianto, who had been so concerned for him that he had dropped his usual habits to take care of him. Ianto, who always put him first; who put him first and never asked for anything. Ianto, who had died horribly because of him.

He punched the wall, biting back the ensuing scream. He cracked a tile and at least one of the bones in his hand. Damn it. Still, at least now he knew that, untreated, the break would heal in a few days.

Jack finally managed to pull himself together, to put the mental wall back in place. He needed that wall if he was going to make it. 

He stepped out of the shower and found a towel Ianto had left for him on the bench. He looked around for his clothes, then realized Ianto must have done something with them. 

He walked into the locker room and found a fresh set of clothes laid out for him. He smiled softly. If Ianto could take solace in routine, then so could he.  
******

“Hello?”

“I need to talk to you,” Ianto said quietly.

“You are talking to me.”

“It’s important.”

“I’ll come by the tourist office. I could use some new brochures.”

“No, I—dinner?”

“You buying?”

Ianto snorted. “You’re the rich one.”

“Yeah, but I’m doing you a favor.”

“I’ll cook. At your place.”

“As long as you clean up, too,” she said, then hung up.

Ianto closed his phone and sighed. The computer dinged, letting him know Jack had left the shower. Ianto stood up from his seat behind Jack’s desk and went to the kitchen area.

He sighed as his cast clanged off the coffee pot. He couldn’t wait for Owen to get back and take this damn thing off. It had seemed like such a good idea at the time, but the itching was really starting to get to him.

As he waited for the coffee to brew, he searched the kitchen area for something to shove under the cast to scratch the inside of his wrist. With all the Chinese food they ordered in, there had to be some leftover chopsticks in here somewhere.

“Oh, thank you,” he breathed as he unearthed a chopstick from the back of the silverware drawer.

He slid out of his suit coat and rolled his sleeve up, the chopstick clamped in his teeth. Once the fabric was out of the way, he went to work with the chopstick, sliding it under the cast and scratching with fervor. As the maddening itching finally abated, he groaned with unrestrained pleasure.

“And here I was thinking I’d never hear that sound again,” Jack said from the doorway.

Ianto whirled, wincing as his grip on the chopstick slipped and it dug into his wrist, tearing flesh.

“You okay?” Jack asked, stepping forward.

“Yeah. This thing just itches. I was trying to alleviate it. Chopstick slipped,” Ianto explained, gesturing with the chopstick.

“Any idea when they’ll be back?”

“Tracker on the SUV has them about an hour out.”

“Was I in the shower that long?”

Ianto smiled. Jack had been in the shower for about an hour; Ianto had checked on him twice. Once to remove Jack’s clothes, emptying the pockets for anything Jack might want to keep before throwing the clothes away; and once after laying out fresh clothes for him to wear. Jack hadn’t noticed him either time, and Ianto had thought it best to wait for Jack to approach him.

“You were in there a while, but I think it’s more that Owen’s probably driving.”

“He does tend to floor it, doesn’t he?”

Ianto raised an eyebrow at him. “Well, hello pot. Have you met kettle?”

Jack laughed. It was short, but it was a real laugh. 

Ianto smiled. “Coffee should be ready soon.”

“I thought you were going to have it ready.”

“I got distracted. There were some things I had to tend to.”

“Yeah, thanks for the clothes.”

Ianto shrugged. “I knew you probably wouldn’t mind wandering about in a towel, but it would have been distracting for the rest of us.”

A half smile appeared on Jack’s face. “Especially with you half out of your suit.”

“This is hardly half out,” Ianto said. But he rolled his sleeve back into place and put his jacket back on anyway.

“What else did you need to tend to? Anything I should know about?” Jack asked.

Ianto shook his head. “Nothing that can’t wait.”

“Ianto, an American president-elect was murdered on British soil and the Prime Minister was outed as a psychopath. How can any of that wait?” Jack sighed, leaning against a countertop.

“Because thanks to some creative footwork, everyone thinks the Toclafane sphere was some kind of new-wave defense tech invented for assassination. MI-6 is currently working with the Americans to find out who built the thing. It would, of course, be easier if the thing hadn’t just disappeared. The general consensus is some sort of stealth technology. In short, nothing that falls under our auspices. No one’s looking to us; either for help or for you. Although, I would suggest you keep your face off camera for a while. What?” he asked as he caught Jack staring at him.

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say that much at once in the entire time I’ve known you.”

“Sorry, sir. There didn’t seem a quick and easy way to put that.”

Jack nodded. He noted that the ‘sir’ was back. A logical part of his brain said that was because Ianto was in business mode; but the logical part of Jack’s brain hadn’t been a particularly strong voice in several months, so he didn’t listen to it. Instead, he interpreted it as an indicator that, now that Jack had himself more under control, Ianto wanted distance between them.

The coffee machine beeped, indicating it was done. Ianto turned and reached for Jack’s favorite cup. He silently fixed Jack’s coffee, then handed the cup to him.

Jack reached out with his broken hand without thinking, hissing and dropping the cup as it touched his hand.

“What is it? Did I burn you?” Ianto asked, reaching for Jack.

“I, um, hurt my hand. In the shower.”

“What?” he asked, stepping around the cup debris to take Jack’s wrist in his hand. “How?”

Jack winced as Ianto turned his hand, looking at it. “There’s a tile that will need replaced,” he said softly.

“Come on, let’s go down to autopsy. I’ll take a look at it.”

“It can wait for Owen,” Jack said, pulling his hand away. He couldn’t take Ianto touching him right now. Ianto touching him made him want more than he could have.

Ianto felt the despair. “Jack—” 

“Would you mind pouring me another coffee? I’m going to go to my office,” Jack said, then turned on his heel and walked away.

Ianto sighed and did as Jack had asked and followed Jack into his office a few moments later, coffee in hand.

“No tray? You’re slacking, Ianto,” Jack said lightly as Ianto set his cup down for him.

“I was saving the tray for when the others get here. I’m sure they’ll be clamoring for coffee and takeaway. And an explanation. Have you given any thought to that?”

“No,” Jack said, taking a sip of his coffee.

Ianto waited a few moments to see if Jack would continue. When he didn’t, Ianto sat down across from him.

“How do you want to handle this?”

“What?” Jack asked, startled. 

“The explanation of where you went, why you were an enemy of the Crown and why we were ordered to the Himalayas. How do you want to handle it?”

“I’ll tell them it’s…I don’t know what I’ll tell them. I’ll think of something.”

“I’ll leave you to it, then,” Ianto said, rising.

“Ianto.”

“Sir?”

“Thanks for the coffee.”

“Watch your hand, sir. I’ll go see about that tile in the shower.”

Jack nodded and watched him leave. He was exhausted, but he knew he had to come up with an explanation that, even if it didn’t satisfy, would at least tide the team over. Give him some breathing room.  
******

“Oi! Ianto! We need coffee!” Owen shouted as he, Gwen and Tosh entered the Hub.

“Try using your eyes, Owen,” Tosh said tiredly, spotting Ianto on his way up to the conference room with a tray in his hands. She dropped her bag on the sofa and followed him up.

Jack was already sitting at his usual spot at the table, files spread in front of him and coffee cup in his uninjured hand.

“Well, well, look what the cat dragged in,” Owen said, sitting down.

“Nice to see you, too, Owen,” Jack replied.

Gwen, being Gwen, hurried over to hug Jack.

“What did you do to your hand?” Owen asked, watching Jack try to hug Gwen while favoring his right hand.

“He broke a bone in it,” Ianto explained.

“What? How?” Gwen asked.

“It’s not important,” Jack replied.

“Owen, would you take a look at it?” Ianto asked.

“Sure,” he said, looking between the two men. “Let’s all go to autopsy. I’ll see if there’s anything I can do,” Owen said before finishing his coffee in one swallow.

They all traipsed down to autopsy. 

Owen did a quick scan of Jack’s hand with the Bekaran tissue scanner.

“Yep. You broke the middle and index fingers. Most I can do is splint and tape them for you.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Jack shrugged. “They’ll be fine in three days.”

A sickening weight formed in Ianto’s stomach as he realized exactly how Jack knew the exact time frame. 

“Well, I’m going to do it anyway so we don’t have to listen to you bitching about them.”

“Right,” Owen said moments later as he finished taping Jack’s fingers. “Ianto come here and we’ll get that cast off of you. In the mean time,” he said, looking straight at Jack, “you can explain to us just what the hell you and your friends did to muck up time.”


	7. Moving Forward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jack explains where he went. Sort of.

“How?” Jack asked.

Tosh folded her arms over her chest and gave him an indignant look. “Jack, we work, practically live, on top of a rift in space and time. You didn’t think we’d notice that something was off?”

Jack’s next question was drowned out by the sound of the saw cutting through Ianto’s cast.

“What?” Tosh asked once the saw was turned off. 

“I said, what do you remember?” Jack repeated.

“What’s there to remember? We were in the middle of a dead field in the Himalayas and all of a sudden got smacked with this huge wave of déjà vu,” Gwen said.

Jack breathed a sigh of relief. It made sense his team would be sensitive to time; he should have thought of that. He was just glad they didn’t actually remember anything.

“Once we could get a signal, we called Ianto and he told us to come home,” Tosh said.

“Ianto, did you feel it, too?” Gwen asked.

Jack held his breath, waiting.

“Yeah, it was a weird feeling. Kind of like a massive head rush,” he said calmly.

“Jesus, Ianto, what the hell happened?” Owen said, looking at Ianto’s wrist.

“I was scratching at it. I slipped,” Ianto shrugged.

Jack stepped closer to look at the wound.

“It’s nothing,” Ianto said, moving his wrist so Jack couldn’t see it. He didn’t know what it would do to Jack to see him wounded; he was rather sure he didn’t want to find out with three other people present. 

“He’s right,” Owen said, cleaning it and taping a bandage on it.

Ianto rolled his sleeve back down over the bandage and put his jacket back on.

“So, Jack, what the hell went on?” Gwen asked.

Jack looked around at his team. “Conference room.”

He waited until they were all settled around the conference table with their coffees to begin speaking.

“The Doctor came to Cardiff for help. He knew there was something off about Mr. Saxon and he needed my help to fix it,” Jack began.

“That’s it? Political intrigue?” Owen asked.

“Hardly. We realized the…Mr. Saxon was more than he seemed.”

“Alien?” asked Tosh.

“And how. He caused some damage, mucked up some timelines. The Doctor found a way to reverse it. Hardly anyone will notice,” Jack finished.

“He didn’t mess with the Rift, did he?” Gwen asked.

“No,” Ianto answered. “I was here the whole time. The Rift barely blipped.”

“Thank goodness for small favors, then,” Tosh said.

“Yeah,” Jack said, trying not to see Tosh with a broken neck.

“How long?” Owen asked.

“Hmm?” Jack answered, tearing his gaze away from Tosh.

“How much time disappeared in this reversal?” Owen clarified.

“A day. Maybe two,” Ianto replied. “At least, that’s the closest I can get from the Rift readings.”

“I can take another look at the readings,” Tosh offered.

Jack, who was watching Ianto, shook his head. “Nah. All you’ve really lost is a couple of days in the middle of the Himalayas. I can’t imagine you’ll miss that experience too much.”

“Won’t hear me arguing,” Owen said, standing up. He stretched and let out a huge yawn. “I have jetlag like you wouldn’t believe.”

Jack laughed, a short, harsh sound.

“Well, not all of us got to hang out at the Hub like teaboy,” Owen said without malice.

Jack heard the tone; whereas in the past the word was a taunt, a way to denigrate Ianto, now it just seemed a way to reconnect. Jack shook his head; they really were the most insane family in the world.

“All right,” Jack said, standing. “Everyone out. Go home and rest. I don’t want to see anyone in here for 48 hours, unless an emergency comes up. If I don’t call you, don’t come in. Got it?”

Tosh, Gwen and Owen nodded.

“Ianto?” Jack asked.

“Yes, sir.”

Jack was unconvinced by the answer.

“Anyone need a ride?” Tosh offered as she, Owen, Gwen and Ianto filed out of the conference room, leaving Jack in the doorway.

“Thanks, Tosh, I’m fine,” Gwen said, walking toward the cog door. Owen followed closely behind her.

“Ianto?” Tosh asked, pausing before following.

“I have some things to take care of, now that I have both hands. I’ll make my own way home,” he replied.

She nodded. “Night, Jack,” she called.

“Good night, Toshiko,” he replied, watching her leave.

Ianto looked up at Jack. There were tears in his eyes. Slowly, Ianto walked back up to join Jack in the conference room.

“Can I get you anything, Jack?” he asked.

Jack turned his head to look at him. “He broke her neck,” he said softly.

Ianto nodded and stepped closer, only an arm’s reach away.

“I watched him. I couldn’t do anything,” Jack said, tears streaming down his cheeks.

“And now she’s going home. She’ll stop to pick up a salad, then go home and put it in the fridge. She’ll forget about it once she reaches her bedroom. She’ll sleep through morning,” Ianto replied.

He paused for a moment to let the imagery sink in. 

“You did that, Jack. When you and the Doctor and Martha put time back, you saved Tosh,” Ianto said, not touching Jack, but refusing to let him look away.

“Her life goes on,” Jack said, smiling through his tears.

“It does.”

“Like nothing ever happened.”

“It didn’t. Not for her. Not for Gwen and Owen.”

“But it did for you.”

“And for you.”

Jack just shook his head and looked away.

“I need some sleep,” he said after a few minutes.

“All right.”

Jack nodded, then walked past Ianto and out of the room. Ianto followed at a slower pace.

Jack paused at the door to his office. “Lock everything up behind you, please,” he said without turning to look at Ianto.

“Of course.”

Jack disappeared into his office and closed the door behind him. Ianto waited for the familiar sound of the hatch opening before he started shutting down the lights and all unnecessary systems before going up to the tourist office to lock up. 

Once the tourist office was secure, he took out his phone.

“I’m ordering takeaway, aren’t I?” asked the voice on the other end.

“I’m sorry,” Ianto replied.

“It’s all right. I had a feeling.”

“I thought I was the empathic one.”

“You are. That’s why I knew you wouldn’t be coming over.”

“Rain check?”

“Any time. And Ianto?”

“Yes?”

“Don’t be there for him too much. You have limits.”

“I know,” he said, then hung up. He took a moment to compose himself before he went back down in the Hub. 

He took off his suit jacket and tie, hanging them over the back of Tosh’s chair. He slid his shoes off and settled down on the couch to sleep. To be there when Jack reached out for him.


	8. First Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jack spends his first night back in the Hub and Ianto keeps watch.

_“It’s so simple. All you have to do is say yes.”_

_The voice breathed into his ear and through his body._

_“Tell me what you know. Tell me how it works and I can make all this stop.”_

_He shook his head._

_The hand gripped his hair again, pulling his head back as far as it would go._

_“I could kill you with a flick of my wrist!”_

_He looked at him out of the corner of his eye._

_“Then do it,” he growled._  
******

Ianto woke up covered in a cold sweat. At first he thought his mind had forced him to wakefulness to escape the nightmare, but then he heard it. A soft keening giving way to a whimper.

He stood up and walked to Jack’s office. He silently opened the door and walked inside. He paused a moment, listening. He could hear Jack’s heavy breathing, then a sob that wasn’t a sob. It was his name.

He hurriedly climbed down the ladder, landing with a soft thud. 

Jack jerked awake. In the dim light of the room, he could see someone coming toward him. As they came closer, his breath caught in his throat.

“No,” he said hoarsely, sitting up.

“Jack—”

He pressed himself back against the wall. “No. Not again. You’re dead. Leave me alone!” he shouted at the advancing apparition.

Ianto moved slowly, sitting on the edge of the bed. “I’m not dead. You’re home.”

Jack shook his head. “Please stop doing this,” he whispered.

Ianto climbed further onto the bed, right beside Jack. “It’s all right,” he said, tears in his eyes.

“Please. Anything but this,” Jack said, crying. “Please.”

Ianto took Jack’s face in his hands and leaned forward, pressing his lips to Jack’s.

Jack whimpered as longing exploded in his chest. Waiting for the blow to come, he clutched at Ianto, increasing the pressure of the kiss, wanting as much of this pleasure as he could get before the pain started again.

Ianto slid his tongue against Jack’s lips, asking for entry.

Jack pulled back and looked at him. “You’re real,” he whispered.

“Yes.”

Jack buried his face in Ianto’s neck and sobbed. Ianto held him, rubbing soothing circles on his back and whispering reassurances.

“He wouldn’t let me touch you. When he brought you back in my mind. I couldn’t touch you. He wanted me to remember how you’d felt dead,” Jack whispered between gasping sobs.

Jack sat back and stared at him. “I couldn’t touch you.”

“You can touch me now,” Ianto said, caressing Jack’s cheek.

Jack turned his head into the caress, inhaling Ianto’s scent. He placed a soft kiss on the inside of Ianto’s wrist, then pulled back.

“I can’t,” he said quietly.

“Jack—“

Jack held his hands up to ward Ianto off. “I can’t. It’s still…this isn’t real yet.”

“Tell me what I have to do to make it real,” Ianto said, taking his hands.

“I don’t know,” he replied, sounding as though the words were torn from him.

Ianto looked down at Jack’s hands. He lifted one and placed it over his heart; the other he placed against his neck, letting Jack’s fingers curl around the nape.

“I am real. This is real. Feel my heart; feel my warmth. This isn’t a dream. No torture cooked up by the Master. You can touch me. I’m here,” he said calmly, looking Jack straight in the eye.

Jack pulled himself forward and pressed his forehead to Ianto’s. “I know this is real. I do. It is. But I’m not. I don’t know if I can be,” he whispered.

Ianto’s heart almost stopped. He had never seen Jack scared, never heard this tone of desperation and defeat in his voice. “You can. You will,” he replied fiercely.

Jack laughed softly. “You would say that. My Ianto. Ever steady.”

Ianto tilted his head and kissed Jack softly.

Jack flinched away.

Ianto looked at him, confused.

“Too close,” Jack said.

Ianto nodded. He moved Jack’s hand off his neck and put his other hand on the bed. Then he slowly, carefully, laid down on the edge of the bed.

“You should go home,” Jack said softly.

Ianto smiled at him and got more comfortable, sliding an arm under the pillow.

“I mean it, Ianto. The nightmares—they get bad. I might hurt you.”

Ianto closed his eyes.

Jack sat for a few minutes, watching Ianto lie there. Wanting, more than anything, to tear both their clothes off and get lost in the unique warmth of lovemaking. But he couldn’t control the memories yet; more frighteningly, he couldn’t control his reactions to them. He couldn’t afford to let his control slip away in the throes of passion; he didn’t know what he would do.

He laid down on his side, close enough that he could feel Ianto’s breath ghosting across his cheek. He stayed still, and when Ianto made no move to touch him, Jack slid down slightly in the bed before moving closer, needing to feel the beat of Ianto’s heart against his cheek.

“I never told him I loved him,” he thought as he drifted off to sleep.

A few moments later, he was asleep and his body buried further against Ianto’s welcoming warmth.

Ianto smiled even as the tears escaped his eyes.  
******

Jack slid softly out of sleep. The first thing he noticed was the familiar scent of Ianto. He took a deep breath, in case he was still dreaming and his mind was playing tricks. He opened his eyes and stared at the nape of Ianto’s neck. He knew that neck; every inch. Had mapped it with lip and tongue and teeth. Had seen it arched back on a pillow in passion. Had seen it arched back toward him as Ianto sought a kiss. Unable to stop himself, he leaned forward and placed a soft kiss where the neck and shoulder met.

He tasted the same.

Jack shut his eyes tightly as the thought came to him. He shouldn’t be tasting Ianto; he had gotten him killed.

Ianto had been lying listening to Jack’s steady, even breathing. It was a rare treat for him; Jack usually didn’t sleep and when he did, Ianto was usually too spent to stay awake to listen. He knew the exact moment Jack woke up; had to swallow the moan that rose when he felt Jack’s lips touch him.

“Ianto?”

He rolled over. Jack had been right; the nightmares had been horrendous. But through it all, he had held onto Jack; lightly, so as not to wake him and scare him again. He had caressed him and whispered reassurances until Jack had settled down, then waited until the next one came.

“It’s early yet. You should go back to sleep,” Ianto said softly.

“Did I hurt you?”

“No,” he lied. It really wasn’t worth mentioning; a few bumps and bruises.

“For a Torchwood employee, you’re a terrible liar.”

Ianto smiled, grateful for that small spark of the Jack he knew.

“I do have other attributes,” he said.

“Oh really?” Jack asked.

“It’s been said that I make fantastic coffee.”

“Has it now? We’ll have to test that.”

Ianto sat up. “I’ll go start a pot.”

“All right. Then go home.”

“What?”

“Go home, Ianto. I’m awake now; I won’t be falling back into my nightmares any time soon. You should go home,” Jack said, sitting up.

“What will you do?”

“Get caught up with everything I missed.”

“You won’t—?”

“I won’t leave.”

Ianto narrowed his eyes at him. “That’s not what I was going to say.”

Jack sighed. “I’ve died enough, Ianto. I won’t do anything stupid.”

“If you’re sure.”

Jack reached out and gently stroked Ianto’s cheek. “I’m sure. You need the rest. You look like shit.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Jack gave him a small smile before shooing him out of the room.

Ianto smiled and climbed the ladder back up into the Hub. Small victories.


	9. Confessions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we meet Ianto's friend, we learn something of Ianto's past and Ianto works out some frustration.

“You look like shit.”

“Seems to be the theme of the day,” Ianto said. “Are you going to let me in?”

She stepped back from the door and he walked into the house.

“Sorry I didn’t call first,” he said, heading for her kitchen.

“Not a problem. It’s not like I was in the middle of some really good morning sex or anything.”

“Were you?”

“No. I wouldn’t have opened the door,” she said, smiling.

Ianto quickly started a pot of coffee, trying to formulate his thoughts.

She stood leaning against the counter, watching him. She had known Ianto Jones for five years, had worked closely with him for three of those years. They had been friends and colleagues; and then the Battle had happened. Everything had changed, but some things between them remained.

He watched her out of the corner of his eye; mahogany hair piled up on her head and held in place with what she had once told him was the greatest hair clip known to man. Her light blue-gray eyes watched him; observing, not judging. A look that had caused more than one detainee to squirm in his seat.

“Relax, Ianto,” she said, catching him watching her.

“Sorry. You’re staring.”

“You’re rumpled. Even when we would come back out of the field, you weren’t rumpled. You don’t _do_ rumpled. It’s interesting.”

Ianto grunted and reached for the coffee cups.

“Are we going to talk about that lovely shiner that’s developing?” she asked as he fixed her a cup and handed it to her.

“It’s not important.”

“Weevil hunt?” she asked.

“No,” he said, walking past her out of the kitchen.

“Tussle with Owen?” she asked, following him into her living room.

“No,” he said, sitting down on the couch.

“Huh. Well, I know I didn’t do it, so that only leaves…Jack.”

She sat down on the opposite end of the couch from him and tucked her legs up under her, cradling the coffee cup in both hands.

“He came back,” Ianto said.

“I gathered. You didn’t think he would?”

“I hoped.”

“No you didn’t. You don’t hope, Ianto, we both know that. Hope is an evil; it fades away just when you need it most.”

She leaned forward, waiting for him to meet her gaze. “Now. Did you think he wouldn’t come back?”

Ianto sighed. He had come here for her help; to utilize the special way she had of expelling demons. He hated it when she made him talk about it first.

“I thought he would. But I wasn’t sure why.”

“Ah. So after everything, you didn’t think he’d come back for you.”

“Yes. He’s been waiting for this Doctor forever—”

“This Doctor who abandoned him once and then led him into getting captured and tortured and, let’s not forget, was partially responsible for your own death?” she asked.

“This Doctor who also set things right,” Ianto reminded her.

“From what you’ve told me, there’s a lot to be set right. Waving a wand or whatever it is he did only started the process. It’s up to the rest of you to finish it.”

Ianto shrugged. He had told her about time going wrong; she didn’t feel anything had happened, but she believed him. She had worked for Torchwood long enough to understand there were things beyond her understanding.

“Ianto?” she prompted.

“I thought if he came back, it would be because of some duty to make sure everything stayed right. Jack’s big on duty.”

“Ianto?”

“Yes?” he said, looking at her.

“You’re an idiot.”

“Thanks.”

“You are. You acknowledge that he has a strong sense of duty, but don’t consider that he feels he has a duty to you. Because of how he feels about you.”

“He’s never said,” he protested.

“Stop being an idiot.”

“Fine!”

They sat in silence for a few moments. She finished her coffee and set the cup on the side table.

“How is he?” she asked.

“Awful. When he came into the Hub, he seemed…still Jack. But…vulnerable. Without being weak. And then when he figured out I remembered, everything changed. He thinks I should blame him for what happened.”

“Gods, you’re both idiots.”

“He’s in pain!” Ianto shouted at her. “He’s been broken and he’s trying to fix everything without asking for help.”

“And you helped him by letting him belt you one?” she asked, her voice cold.

“No,” Ianto replied quickly. He knew that tone. That tone led to violence. “We were in bed. He was asleep and had a nightmare. He doesn’t know he did it.”

“You have to be careful, Ianto. You’re working through your own demons right now. There are limits.”

“I know. But mine can wait; I don’t have to lead a team protecting the Earth.”

“Don’t let the demons wait too long, Ianto. They have a way of growing.”

“I know! That’s why I came here to you instead of going home!”

She smiled at him. “I should have a t-shirt: Demon Slayer.”

A laugh was startled out of him, diffusing the tension. He looked down at his empty cup, then set it on the table in front of him. He stared at it silently for several minutes, completely aware she was watching him closely. Waiting.

“I wasn’t ever going to tell him,” Ianto finally said, softly.

“I know.”

“Isn’t there something wrong with that? With the fact that if he hadn’t seen it, hadn’t somehow known, I’d have lied to him about it forever.”

“It depends on why you weren’t going to tell him.”

“This is why. Because I knew he would blame himself. Pull himself back into that tight ball of guilt and despair.”

“So, you think that if he didn’t know that you remember this other timeline, he wouldn’t have blamed himself?”

“No, he would have. But he would have tucked it down and away. Eventually, it would have—”

“Gone away?” she asked, her expression making it clear what a lie she thought that was.

“I was going to say would have ceased to consume him. But that’s what it’s doing, Elle. It’s consuming him. It’s there in his eyes every waking moment. And when he did sleep, when he’d finally pushed himself past exhaustion into unconsciousness, he dreamt about it. And I can’t—he won’t let me—” his breath caught in his throat. He buried his head in his hands and he fought for composure.

“Ianto, if you don’t tell me, I can’t help you,” she said softly.

Ianto laughed sharply through his tears. “You sound like a shrink.”

She threw a pillow at him. “Some of us paid attention in those post-mission briefings.”

He shook his head. “You were the only one who did. That’s why we always came to you,” he said, then lowered his head when he realized what he had said.

“And here I was thinking it was my comfy couch,” she said, smiling.

“How do you do that?”

“What?”

“Realize I’m right on the edge and then pull me back,” he replied.

“Because I have intimate knowledge of that edge. And I don’t like to share it. Torchwood 1 were kind enough to help me hone it and use it to my advantage.”

“They were probably really pissed when you kept using that edge to your advantage and not theirs.”

She nodded. “I used it for them enough to keep them off my back and let me do the job my way.”

“You protected me.”

“You didn’t need protecting, Ianto.”

“No, I did. You just let me think I didn’t.”

She sighed. It was a very old argument. “I’m not getting drawn into this, Ianto. Old arguments are not why you came.”

“You’re right. I came for something else. Are you coming?” he asked, standing.

She nodded slowly. She had half expected this; Ianto always needed the physical to get him through the really hard emotional confessions.


	10. Comfort

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack and Ianto find comfort, together and separately.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains a long flashback which includes explicit sex. It also contains references to torture from the series on episode _Countrycide_.

“Have you had enough?” Elle asked, panting.

Ianto shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. I don’t think my body could take another round.”

She snorted. “Out of practice?”

He swept her legs out from under her with a swift kick, knocking her down onto the floor.

“Good one,” she said when she caught her breath. “Now help me up.”

He smiled and reached down to help her up. She used his weight against him and flipped him onto the floor behind her. Sighing contentedly, she sat up.

“Now, you’ve had enough,” she said.

“You always were sneaky.”

“And you usually expect it,” she said, standing.

“I must be more tired than I thought,” he said, then rose to join her.

“You want the shower first?”

“No, I’m going home. My shower, my bed.”

“Are you going to walk home like that?” she asked.

He looked down at the sweat-drenched t-shirt and sweats he was wearing.

“I’m probably too smelly to mug,” he replied, picking up the duffel with his clothes.

“Can’t argue with you there,” she said, wrinkling her nose.

They walked upstairs to the main floor.

“And after a shower and a nap?” she asked.

“I’ll go back to the Hub.”

“Have you considered that he could use some time alone?”

“I think he’s been alone enough,” Ianto said. 

“Just, be careful.”

“I will. Thank you, Elle,” he said, then leaned in to kiss her cheek.

She grabbed the front of his t-shirt in a firm grip. “You will keep me informed about what’s going on. I don’t want to find out something’s happened the same way I did last time.”

He swallowed hard. After Lisa, he hadn’t known what to do. 

He had helped Owen move the bodies to Autopsy, then Jack had told him he was driving him home. Gwen and Tosh had protested, thinking, as Ianto did, that Jack was going to kill him and dispose of the body. Jack had driven Ianto home; he still couldn’t remember what Jack had said during that ride. At home, alone and lost, he had called Elle. But when she had picked up, he hadn’t been able to speak. She had shown up five minutes later, breaking in when he wouldn’t open the door. She had stayed with him all night and had hidden in the bathroom when Jack had come to see him the next day. She had stayed for three days, only leaving after she had helped him pick out a suit for his first day back at Torchwood Cardiff.

“I will call you, I promise,” he said.

“Okay,” she said, kissing him lightly before releasing his t-shirt. “Be safe and I’ll talk to you later.”  
******

Jack had finished reading the reports Ianto had kept on Rift activity while he was gone. Then, he had re-familiarized himself with the Hub. He stayed out of Autopsy, not quite ready to be alone with the steel tables and sharp objects. He even considered feeding Myfanwy, then found a note from Ianto saying he’d done it before he left.

After three hours alone, the silence got too loud. He found himself hoping for a Weevil attack. Hell, at this point, he’d even take a faerie sighting.

He went to the coat rack in his office to get his greatcoat and, for a moment, was surprised when it wasn’t there. Then he remembered that Ianto had taken it the day before, offering to get it dry cleaned. He sighed and went down to his quarters and opened his wardrobe. Tucked far in the back was a black leather jacket. He had always had a thing for leather, but hadn’t really worn it since the Gamestation. He shook his head and pulled the coat on. 

He grabbed his cell, made sure it was charged, then left the Hub, using his wrist comp to lock it behind him.  
******

Ianto rolled his shoulders to loosen the muscles as he entered his flat. Going a few rounds with Elle had been just what he needed. Mostly. 

“Were you at the gym?” Jack asked. He was standing in the middle of Ianto’s living room.

Ianto jumped slightly. He hadn’t noticed anyone else was in the flat. He really was more tired than he had thought.

“Session with a personal trainer,” Ianto replied, setting his bag down. “Is everything all right?”

Jack shrugged. “I got bored.”

“How about lunch?” Ianto suggested.

“Sounds good.”

“Finish making yourself at home. I’m going to grab a quick shower.”

“Um, could you…”

Ianto smiled. “I’ll just put on a pot of coffee first.”

“Thank you,” he said, smiling. He could do this, fall back into the comfort of routine. Through comfort, he could compress his memories, his nightmares, into something small. Small enough to be easily buried.

“Did you get bored before or after you ran out of coffee?” Ianto asked as he walked into the kitchen.

“After. But before I went insane and tried working the coffee maker myself.”

“Thank the gods for small favors,” he said, putting a pot on to brew.

“One time. One time I blew up a coffee maker.”

Ianto turned and raised an eyebrow at him.

“Okay, fine. It was four. But the fifth time was entirely Owen,” he said, his smile broad, but never reaching his eyes.

Ianto just watched Jack. On the surface, he was the same old Jack. But his eyes were still haunted; his heart and mind still broken.

“Something tells me you helped,” he said to Jack.

He shrugged. “I may have given instructions from the doorway.”

Ianto chuckled lightly. “I’m going to go get a shower. You know where everything is.”

Jack nodded and watched him leave the room. He tossed his coat over the back of a kitchen chair and went to the cabinet to get a coffee cup. He did know where everything was; after Brecon Beacons, he had come here to check on Ianto…   
******

“What are you doing here?” Ianto asked, the sound muffled by the icepack he was holding against his mouth.

“I wanted to see how you were,” Jack replied.

“I’m fine. Good night.”

Jack caught the door with his hand. “Not inviting me in when I’ve come to see to your well being is awfully rude.”

“Sorry, sir. The stock of that shotgun smashed right into the part of my brain that controls politeness.”

Jack’s eyes darkened and he pushed Ianto inside. 

“What do you think you’re doing?” Ianto asked.

Jack closed and locked the door behind him, then took Ianto by the elbow and steered him into the flat.

“Bathroom?” Jack asked.

“No thanks, I just went,” Ianto replied, getting frustrated.

Jack laughed and cut through the living room and down a hall. He found the master bedroom and took it all in at a quick glance as he towed Ianto into the adjoining bathroom.

Jack turned on all the lights in the bathroom and made Ianto stand in the center of the room. He took a moment to look around. As expected, the room was neat and clean; all the surfaces shone and there was a large wicker hamper with a lid in the corner. What was unexpected was the large, glassed-in shower.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Ianto nearly shouted, then winced at the pain it caused his mouth.

“Making sure you’re all right. Owen said you refused medical attention.”

Ianto smacked Jack’s hands away. “I refused _his_ medical attention; I let the medics at the scene look at me.”

“And what did they say?”

Ianto sighed and set the icepack down on the sink’s edge. “That I had a mild concussion and some slight bumps and bruises.”

“Really?” Jack asked, sliding his hand up under Ianto’s t-shirt.

Ianto winced as Jack’s hand brushed his ribs.

“That doesn’t look like a reaction to a ‘slight’ bruise,” Jack accused.

“Did you check everyone this thoroughly?” Ianto asked, putting his hand on Jack’s wrist.

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because I can tell when the others are lying to me.”

Ianto’s expression turned stony. “Go back to the Hub, sir; I’m fine.”

“I’ll be the judge of that,” Jack replied, his hands grasping the hem of Ianto’s t-shirt.

“Sir, please.”

“They bound your arms behind your back, none too gently, I’m sure; so I’m guessing your shoulders are still sore. Do you really want me to have to yank this shirt up over your head?” Jack said, his voice low.

“What are you going to do, sir? Kiss it and make it better?”

Jack froze, looking into Ianto’s eyes. Trying to see if he remembered that kiss in the Hub.

Ianto took the opportunity to pull Jack’s hands off his shirt and back away.

“I’m fine, sir. I’d appreciate it if you would leave now.”

Jack folded his arms across his chest. “I’m not going anywhere until you let me have a look at those injuries.”

Ianto glared at him. “I’m rather, tired, sir. I’d appreciate it if you’d go home.” 

Tired was an understatement. With all his own terror and pain, and the terror and pain of Tosh, Kieran and Gwen, he was on overload. All he wanted to do was sleep for a week. He really, really didn’t want to have a confrontation with Jack, from whom waves of frustration and fear were blazing forth.

“Ianto, please. Let me see for myself that you’re all right.”

“I’ll be fine,” Ianto insisted.

“Then letting me take a look shouldn’t be such a huge fucking problem, should it?” Jack yelled.

Ianto flinched away, a small groan escaping his lips.

“Ianto, I’m sorry,” Jack said, reaching out.

Ianto took a further step back, hitting the sink with his hip and losing his balance. Jack reached out and grabbed him, pulling him close.

Ianto stared into Jack’s eyes and felt something beyond the fear and frustration: concern and…attraction.

“You really do have no restraint, do you?” Ianto lightly accused.

“You still have your clothes on, don’t you?” Jack replied, smiling.

Ianto put his hands on Jack’s shoulders for balance and stepped away from him.

“Come on, Ianto. Just a quick check of your injuries and I’ll leave you alone.”

Ianto let go of Jack’s shoulders. “Promise?”

“Yes,” Jack said, exasperated.

“All right,” Ianto said. He grasped the hem of his t-shirt and, with a grunt, began to lift it.

“Let me help,” Jack said, reaching out. Working together, they managed to get Ianto’s t-shirt off without Ianto having to strain his shoulders too much, leaving him wearing only a pair of low-slung sweats.

“See? It’s not that bad,” Ianto said as Jack stared at his bare torso.

Jack dropped the t-shirt on the floor, ignoring Ianto’s eye roll, and reached out to slide his hand over the bruises on Ianto’s right side. Ianto winced as Jack’s fingers brushed a particularly tender spot.

“You bruised this one,” Jack said, tracing the rib.

“Could’ve been worse. He kicked me; it could have broken the rib.”

Jack continued his exploration, stepping closer to examine the cut the knife had made on Ianto’s neck before Jack had driven into the house. 

“It doesn’t need stitches; won’t even scar, they said,” Ianto said softly.

Jack gently touched the bruises on Ianto’s forehead and temple, then slid his fingers into Ianto’s hair, searching for other injuries.

“I headbutted one of them. The others are from…well, they had to subdue me,” Ianto explained.

“Mild concussion?” Jack questioned, disbelieving.

“I have a surprisingly thick skull,” he said, smiling. Jack’s fingers were massaging his scalp, soothing him.

“So I’ve learned. And these?” he asked softly, his hands moving down to trail over Ianto’s chest and stomach.

“Baseball bat and a knee to the stomach. No internal bleeding, but I’m going to be a rainbow come morning,” Ianto replied, closing his eyes.

“Turn around,” Jack said softly.

Ianto obeyed, the calm from Jack swamping his confusion; the cannibals hadn’t touched his back. He jumped slightly as Jack’s hands settled on his shoulders and started to lightly rub the sore muscles.

Ianto bit back a moan.

“Ianto,” Jack sighed, leaning forward to press his lips to the younger man’s shoulder.

Ianto shuddered.

Jack lifted his head, waiting for Ianto to say something. Instead, Ianto leaned his head back to rest on Jack’s shoulder. Jack trailed his hands soothingly over Ianto’s chest, causing the younger man to moan.

Ianto sighed before catching Jack’s mouth in a passionate kiss. 

Jack returned the kiss, turning Ianto in his arms. Ianto’s hands went to Jack’s waist, clutching him closer, his tongue invading Jack’s mouth.

Jack let himself revel in the kiss, in the feel of Ianto’s tongue sliding against his own; something he’d wanted since the first time he had touched the young man.

“Wait,” Jack said, wrenching out of the kiss. 

“What? I thought you wanted me,” Ianto gasped.

“I do. Oh, I do,” he said, taking Ianto’s face in his hands. “But I want it to mean something. I don’t want this to be just some quick shag to let you know you’re still alive.”

“What’s wrong with knowing I’m still alive?” he asked sadly.

“Oh, Ianto,” Jack sighed, pressing their foreheads together.

“It wouldn’t be just a shag,” Ianto finally whispered.

Jack wasn’t sure he could believe Ianto completely; he had successfully lied to him before. But the younger man’s eyes were dark with desire. He may be lying about the reasons, but the feelings were real.

Jack leaned forward and kissed Ianto lightly, just a soft press of lips. Ianto’s hands slid up his spine, then back down to settle at the small of his back.

Jack nibbled at Ianto’s upper lip, causing him to let loose a deep moan. Jack took the opportunity to slide his tongue into Ianto’s mouth. Ianto’s hands clutched at Jack’s back beneath his coat. His tongue stroked Jack’s, learning the taste of his would-be lover.

Jack walked Ianto back into the bedroom, deepening the kiss as they went. Ianto finally pulled back from the kiss, gasping for breath. Jack feared for a moment that Ianto would change his mind, but Ianto dove right back in, his mouth devouring Jack’s as his hands tore at the buttons on Jack’s shirt.

“Ianto,” Jack said, breaking the kiss. “Have you ever been with a man?”

“No. Does it matter?” he replied, his hands stilling.

“Yes,” Jack said, smiling. Then he kissed Ianto again, softly, gently, his hands caressing Ianto’s sides. 

Ianto moaned into the kiss, his hands brushing up Jack’s chest to slide the coat off his shoulders. Jack caught it with one hand just before it hit the floor. Ianto pulled away, puzzled.

“We’ll need something from that,” Jack whispered in explanation, tossing the coat to the floor beside the bed.

“Oh,” Ianto said, blushing.

“Have I told you how very sexy I find that blush?” Jack asked.

“Tell me later,” Ianto replied, kissing him. He slowly licked his way into Jack’s mouth, taking the time to discover which strokes caused Jack to sigh, and which ones caused him to moan and grab hold of him tightly. 

Jack gently lowered Ianto onto the bed, then stood back to look down at him. Jack began to undress, his eyes never wavering from Ianto’s face. As he stripped off the last piece of clothing, he stood still, waiting for Ianto’s reaction.

“Please,” Ianto gasped, reaching for him.

Jack smiled and knelt between Ianto’s legs, then slid up Ianto’s body, sighing at the feel of Ianto’s skin sliding against his own. He was careful not to press too much of his weight against Ianto, not wanting to cause any discomfort to his battered torso. 

“Okay?” Jack whispered.

“More,” Ianto sighed before kissing Jack.

Jack laughed and pulled back to kiss Ianto’s neck. He licked and nibbled his way over the cut, which he covered with soft kisses. Ianto’s hands threaded through Jack’s hair as he trailed his mouth down to Ianto’s chest. Ianto arched his back and sucked in a gasping breath as Jack’s mouth closed over his nipple. Once he had caught his breath, his fingers tightened in Jack’s hair, moving his mouth over to the other nipple. 

As Jack soothed all the bruises on Ianto’s body with his lips and the occasional stroke of tongue, his hands slid down to Ianto’s waist. He curled his fingers over the edge of the waistband and began to pull the sweats down. His thumbs idly stroked over Ianto’s hipbones, causing the younger man to shudder. Jack, uncertain whether the reaction was caused by the movement of his thumbs or his tongue against Ianto’s navel, repeated the caress, watching Ianto’s face. 

“Gods!” Ianto yelled, his neck arching tautly as he thrust his head back against the pillow.

Jack quickly stripped the sweats off, then leaned back up to nibble at Ianto’s hipbones.

“Please…I can’t…please…” Ianto panted, the words dissolving into disjointed Welsh syllables.

Jack, taking pity on him, released Ianto’s hipbone with a last nip of his teeth. He turned his attention to Ianto’s throbbing cock. Slowly, lovingly, he licked the precum from the head.

“Wait!” Ianto cried out, trying to hold back his orgasm.

Jack shook his head and took Ianto’s length into his mouth in one long, hot, slow stroke. Ianto came immediately, screaming Jack’s name, his hips thrusting his cock deeper into Jack’s throat. Jack swallowed every drop, luxuriating in the feel of Ianto’s flesh in his mouth.

Ianto opened his eyes and looked down to see Jack releasing him from his mouth. Jack’s eyes never left his as he slid up Ianto’s body, the friction of his skin causing Ianto to shudder. Jack kissed him, his tongue delving deep into Ianto’s mouth. Ianto moaned into the kiss, never having tasted himself on another man’s tongue. Jack seemed content to lie there on top of him, exploring his mouth and running his hands over Ianto’s still trembling body.

Ianto began to slowly caress Jack’s back and chest with his hands, his fingers tracing muscle and his nails digging into skin. Jack groaned and thrust his hips against Ianto’s. Then he leaned over the side of the bed and fumbled in his coat pocket. He pulled out a condom and a tube of lube and set them on the bed beside Ianto’s hip. 

“Do you still—”

“Yes,” Ianto said, pulling Jack down for a passionate kiss.

Jack reached for the lube and opened it without breaking the kiss. Then he kneeled up and squirted some onto his fingers. Keeping his eyes on Ianto’s face to watch for any sign that Ianto wanted to stop, he slid his fingers down to Ianto’s entrance and began caressing him.

Ianto gasped as the first finger breached him, then arched into the caress, sighing. Jack slowly slid another finger in, stretching him with careful motions as he bent down to lick one of Ianto’s hipbones.

Ianto’s words of encouragement got strangled in his throat.

As he closed his teeth over Ianto’s hipbone, Jack slid a third finger inside him. When Ianto began begging and thrusting his hips against Jack’s fingers, Jack slowly withdrew them and reached for the condom.

Ianto’s strong fingers closed around Jack’s wrist, stopping him.

Jack froze.

“No. Just you,” the younger man whispered hoarsely.

Jack nodded, then reached for the lube to cover himself. He leaned up over Ianto, one hand aligning his cock with Ianto and the other digging into the bed beside Ianto’s head, bracing himself. 

He kissed Ianto softly. “Are you ready?” he whispered.

“Yes.”

“Jack.”

“What?”

“When you came before, you said my name. Say it again,” Jack asked softly, staring into Ianto’s eyes.

“Yes, Jack,” Ianto replied, grabbing Jack’s shoulders.

Jack smiled and slowly thrust into Ianto.

“Jack!” Ianto shouted, digging his fingers into Jack’s flesh.

Jack kept thrusting, slowly rocking his hips against Ianto until he was completely inside him. 

Ianto’s head was thrown back against the pillow, his eyes closed and his mouth open in ecstasy. So full, Jack was everywhere all at once. He could feel every pulse of Jack’s cock within his body. Oh God, he was hard again, his cock trapped tightly between their bodies. He wanted more. 

Jack buried his face in Ianto’s neck, biting gently at the soft flesh. Ianto arched into him, lifting one leg to wrap it around Jack’s waist as the other pressed tight against Jack’s leg. 

Jack increased the pace of his thrusts, the sound of Ianto’s moans driving him closer to the edge. He felt Ianto’s body tighten and bit into Ianto’s neck as he felt the younger man come between them, pushing Jack over the edge into his own shattering orgasm.

Ianto screamed Jack’s name as he felt his lover come inside him, their bodies shuddering in unison.

Jack laid there a few moments, listening to Ianto’s breathing even out even as spasms continued to travel through his body. Then he slowly got up, reluctantly pulling away from the younger man’s warm body. He walked into the bathroom and got a flannel. He brought it back to Ianto and gently cleaned the younger man. He smiled at Ianto’s blush, then quickly kissed him. Jack set the flannel, the tube of lube and the unused condom on the bedside table, then turned out the light.

Ianto slid under the covers, leaving them pulled back in silent invitation. Jack climbed in beside him, wrapping his arm lightly around Ianto’s waist. Ianto grasped Jack’s hand and pulled it up over his heart, entwining his fingers with Jack’s.

Jack tilted his head and kissed the nape of Ianto’s neck. “I’m going to have a hard time keeping my hands off you in the Hub now,” he whispered against Ianto’s ear.

Ianto stiffened against him. “No,” he said, quietly but forcefully.

“Ianto?”

“Not there. I can’t…It wouldn’t…”

“Ssh,” Jack soothed, squeezing Ianto’s hand. “You’re right. I’m sorry,” Jack said, mentally kicking himself. Of course it would be impossible for Ianto relax like this in the Hub, where Lisa had died. Where Ianto still felt so many dark emotions.

Ianto nodded and settled back against Jack, easily falling asleep in the comfort of Jack’s arms.  
******

Jack smiled at the memory of their first night. He had woken up well before Ianto and explored the kitchen. That was how he had discovered Ianto had the ears of a cat and reflexes to match; as soon as Jack had touched the coffee maker, Ianto was at his side, pushing Jack toward the table and brewing the coffee himself. 

He began to feel guilty again, remembering all he had done to Ianto and all the Welshman had had to overcome in order to be with him. And now, now he was asking Ianto to take care of him, when he should have been begging his forgiveness. 

He heard the shower turn off and went to talk to Ianto; to get this out and done with once and for all.

He strode into the bathroom and was confronted with the sight of Ianto’s wet, naked back as the younger man wrapped a towel around his waist. Without thinking, Jack walked over to Ianto and wrapped his arms around him. Ianto sighed and leaned back against Jack, placing his hands over Jack’s. 

“I see you managed to get all the way out of your clothes this time,” Jack said, resting his chin on Ianto’s shoulder.

“I thought it would be an interesting change,” he replied.

Jack laughed and kissed him on the side of his neck.

Ianto whimpered, then turned in Jack’s arms, taking Jack’s face in his hands. 

“Please,” Ianto whispered against Jack’s lips.

Jack nodded and moaned as Ianto captured his mouth in a kiss. Ianto’s fingers slid into his hair, holding his head steady as he kissed him leisurely, waiting for Jack to move the kiss deeper.

With a groan deep in his throat, Jack deepened the kiss, slipping his tongue into Ianto’s mouth and sliding it slowly along his teeth.

Ianto sighed as Jack explored his mouth. He was so lost in the familiar feel and taste of Jack that he failed to muffle the grunt of pain when Jack’s hands slid against a tender spot on his side.

Jack pulled completely away from Ianto. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s all right.”

“You’re hurt,” Jack said, the shadow coming back into his eyes.

“I was sparring with my trainer and I failed to see a blow coming.”

Jack stared at him, taking in the bruise he had just touched, as well as the one on the center of his chest and the developing black eye.

“Because you were tired from fending my blows off all night.”

“No. Jack, wait!” he said as Jack turned and walked out of the bathroom.

Ianto chased after him, catching up with him in the front hall. He grabbed Jack’s shoulder in a firm grip, intent on making him listen to reason.

Jack reacted out of instinct when he felt the hand on his shoulder. He grabbed his assailant’s arm and used it to spin him into the wall.

Ianto had no time to prepare himself for the impact; his back and skull cracked hard against the wall.

Jack’s mind snapped back to the present as he watched Ianto slide down to the floor. He stood there staring, unable to move toward the younger man.

“Ow,” Ianto said softly, meeting Jack’s gaze. He slowly and carefully pulled himself to his feet, knowing instinctively that Jack would need to see him get up.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” Jack said rapidly, then bolted out of the flat.

“Damn it,” Ianto sighed, leaning back against the wall. He had been so close.


	11. Rooftops and Conversations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jack and Ianto try to talk.

Ianto gingerly walked into his bathroom. His body and mind were screaming at him to lie down, to rest and heal from everything he had put them through in the last 24 hours. His heart was yelling equally loudly for him to run after Jack.

To solve the internal dispute, he opened the medicine cabinet and pulled everything off the bottom shelf. Then he removed the false wall behind that shelf and reached into the hole behind it. He pulled out a dusty bottle, opened it and tapped two pills into his hand. He dry swallowed them, then closed the bottle and put it back in its place. The pills were a specialized painkiller developed by the Secure Archives section of Torchwood 1; to be distributed only to the Secure Archives agents. Agents like him. 

He put the false wall back and rearranged the medicine cabinet. He took a moment to stare at his reflection in the mirror; when it fully developed, that black eye would be a beauty. He quickly got dressed in a suit, knotting his tie as he walked into the kitchen to turn off the beeping coffee pot. He paused when he saw Jack’s leather jacket thrown over the back of a chair. He seemed to always be leaving his jacket behind for Ianto to find.

He picked up the jacket, grabbed his keys and his cell, and headed for the Hub.  
******

Jack took a deep breath and looked out over Cardiff. This was what he should have done in the first place; not gone to Ianto’s. He stood watching the sun set over the city he had chosen to call home. The lights came on across the city, people moved between work and home and home and the pubs and other entertainments. Moving forward in the dark, refusing to sit still.

“I thought I’d find you up here.”

Jack stiffened, then sighed. Of course Ianto would have come after him.

“Am I that predictable?” Jack asked without turning around.

“Only to me,” Ianto replied, coming up to stand beside Jack.

“How’s your head?”

“Haven’t had any complaints, sir,” he replied, looking straight ahead.

Jack chuckled.

They stood side-by-side in companionable silence; both afraid to say something that would bring back the reality of the awkwardness between them.

“I’m sorry I hurt you, Ianto. It was just instinct. After all that time being unable to fight back, of having to endure…it’s still—” 

“Too close?”

“Yeah. But it—I—just need time. Just give me some time to let normalcy settle in. I can bury that Year away with the rest of my past. I can move forward and it will never have to touch us again,” Jack said, his voice full of desperation.

Ianto nodded slowly, watching Jack. He had experienced something similar to this, back when he’d been on field duty at Torchwood 1. A lifetime ago now, literally. After it was all done, you made your report and processed what happened as best you could. Then you got as far away from it as you could, cleaned away the dirt and the blood and then packed the memories away, down as far and as dark as you could. But if you weren’t careful, you packed yourself away with the memories.

Jack sighed, mistaking Ianto’s nod for acceptance, rather than understanding.

“What if it had been Tosh who had come up behind you and startled you? How would you have explained it to her?” Ianto asked.

“I don’t know. I just have to be more careful,” Jack said, looking away.

“Bury it deeper?”

“Yes.”

“Jack, if you bury it deeper, it just comes out uglier in the long run.”

“Never took you for a psychologist, Ianto.”

“Personal experience with my own demons, Jack.”

Ianto’s vision went fuzzy for a moment. He shook his head.

“I need your help, Ianto,” Jack said softly.

“Of course,” he replied, rubbing his forehead.

“I need you to help me keep up my usual face. Don’t let the others know anything’s different.”

“They’re still angry you left.”

“They’re happier that I’ve come back.”

“True,” Ianto said. He had felt the relief coming off the others when they saw Jack.

A bright light exploded in front of Ianto’s eyes, causing him to stumble back a step.

“Ianto?” Jack asked, grabbing his elbow.

“It’s nothing,” Ianto said, shaking his head slowly. “I’m just tired.”

Jack ran his hands lightly over the back of Ianto’s head, hissing when he felt the lump he’d caused. 

“I’m sorry, Ianto. We should have Owen check you out; I probably gave you a concussion.”

“It’s nothing, sir. Remember, I have a surprisingly thick skull.”

“I remember. Let’s go inside anyway. It’s getting cold up here and I’m out of coats.”

“I brought your leather. It’s in—”

Jack caught Ianto just before he hit the hard cement of the roof.  
******

_Tell me how it works. Tell me how it works and I’ll make it stop. Tell me. Stop. Tell me. Stop. Tell me!_

Ianto pushed past the harsh, seductive voice toward consciousness.

“He’s coming around.”

“Ianto? Come on, teaboy.”

Owen.

Ianto groaned. “Get that light out of my face.”

Owen withdrew the pen light. “Grumpy. Is he usually grumpy when he wakes up, Jack?”

Ianto heard Owen’s sharp intake of breath as Jack, presumably, elbowed him.

“How long was I out?” Ianto asked, opening his eyes.

“Too long,” Jack replied.

“About an hour,” Owen said at the same time. “Jack says it’s simple exhaustion, which I would believe if I hadn’t seen the bruises for myself.”

Ianto realized he was naked from the waist up and…no, a quick glance told him he still had his trousers on.

“So, I ran some blood tests and x-rayed your skull,” Owen continued. “No fracture from hitting your head when you passed out, but you do have a mild concussion.”

Ianto shot a look at Jack, but didn’t contradict his story. “Can I get dressed now?”

“Sure. Jack, could you give me a moment with my patient?” Owen asked.

Jack folded his arms across his chest. “No.”

“Really, Jack, it’s doctor-patient business.”

“And I’m the boss of both doctor and patient, so I stay.”

“Fine,” Owen said, running his tongue over his teeth. “Ianto, do you want to tell me about the drugs in your system?”

“What?” Jack nearly shouted.

“It’s just some painkillers. They’re prescription,” Ianto said, sitting up.

“Prescribed by whom?” Owen asked.

Ianto sighed. “The doctor I had before I came to work here.”

“That would make the drugs more than a year old,” Jack supplied.

“Which is why I probably shouldn’t have taken two of them,” Ianto replied, standing.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Owen asked.

“I’m standing up. I’m going to get dressed and then I am going to go home and sleep,” Ianto replied.

“You can’t do that; old drugs and a concussion make going home alone to sleep a very bad idea,” Owen warned.

“He’ll stay here,” Jack said.

Owen rolled his eyes. “Fine. Keep him hydrated and don’t do anything too strenuous. Blowjobs only tonight, I’m afraid,” he said, shrugging out of his lab coat.

Ianto pretended to trip so Jack had to catch him instead of going for Owen’s throat.

“He’s exhausted, Owen. He needs to sleep,” Jack protested as Owen started up the steps.

“He should have thought of that before he self-medicated,” Owen replied, then walked out through the cog door.

“Wanker,” Jack muttered.

Ianto chuckled, standing up and reaching for his shirt.

“What was it?” Jack asked softly.

“Specialized painkillers. You really aren’t supposed to take more than one. And you apparently shouldn’t take them after they’re a year old.”

“How many did you take?”

“Just two. The good news is, they’ll be out of my system in another four hours.”

“How can you be sure?”

“They’re designed to be a short-term stopgap. You’re only supposed to use them to get you through the pain until you’re someplace safe when you collapse. I pushed the limits a bit,” Ianto said, walking up into the Hub.

“Because of me,” Jack said, following him.

“Yes. Because of you,” Ianto said, turning to meet his gaze. He was tired of dodging this fight.

“All right. What are we going to do to keep you awake for the next four hours?” Jack asked, still perfectly fine with dodging the fight.

“I suppose a blowjob is out of the question?”

Jack goggled, then recovered. He could play this game. “Well, you do have a habit of thrashing about when you come. Could be dangerous.”

Ianto nodded, a wicked smile on his face. “Yes. Of course, it probably wouldn’t do either of us any good if I passed out while going down on you.”

“Right. So, I guess that leaves us with working on reports or playing cards.”

“We could talk to each other.”

“If I remember correctly, talking is what brought on the attack.”

“You don’t remember correctly,” Ianto said. “I’ll make coffee and then we’ll talk.”


	12. Talkus Interruptus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jack must keep Ianto awake and Ianto just wants Jack to come to bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am aware that I have completely bastardized Latin for the title. But if _Supernatural_ can do it for plotty fun, let's let me have this one, okay?
> 
> I am sorry about the delay in posting; my internet connection was down or weak for the past few days. Seriously, I had to sit on my kitchen island to get any connection at all. I'm therefore going to get as many chapters as I can up tonight before the signal goes wonky again.

Ianto had wanted to talk about what was going on between them, he really had. But his brain was refusing to function properly; past and present and things that never were had begun bleeding into each other. He had to get everything straight before he could deal with Jack; he would have to have his wits about him if he was going to get through to Jack. 

Jack had smiled as Ianto came into his office carrying the tray with coffee. He could tell from the look in Ianto’s eyes that he was still under a lot of strain. He had braced himself when Ianto opened his mouth to speak.

But Ianto hadn’t asked questions about the Year or what was going on between them. Instead, he asked questions about the Doctor and Rose. Questions that made Jack tell stories that didn’t involve terror and pain and death. 

Gradually, it had become a game; see which story made Ianto laugh the hardest. Jack had discovered, much to his delight, that Ianto would snort when he laughed. A very adorable snort, followed by a blush, which caused Jack to shift uncomfortably in his chair; seeing Ianto blush had always done something to him. He supposed he should take comfort in the fact that the little things could still arouse him; but he was more concerned with the number of cold showers he was going to be taking. He knew Ianto wanted to talk to him; hell, wanted him, period. But what had happened this afternoon only convinced him that he wasn’t in control yet; he wouldn’t risk harming Ianto any more than he already had.

Finally, Ianto’s laughter had gotten softer, slower as he lost his battle with exhaustion. He kept dozing off mid-sentence, only to have Jack wake him back up. Ianto had gotten increasingly grumpy the more times Jack woke him. 

Half an hour ago, Jack had decided it was safe to let Ianto stay asleep the next time he dozed off. To make it easier on both of them, Jack had helped Ianto down into his room, then stripped him down to his underwear before tucking him into bed. He had then gone back up to his office, knowing he didn’t need to catch up on paperwork as much as he needed to resist temptation.  
******

Sighing, Jack leaned back in his chair and set his pen down. He needed to go wake Ianto up to make sure he was all right. Ianto had been asleep for almost an hour and Jack was unwilling to let him sleep much longer without checking on him.

Jack quietly climbed down the ladder into his room. Ianto was sprawled on his stomach in the bed, the covers pooling at his waist. Jack stood for a moment, just watching Ianto as he slept, wondering if he looked that peaceful when he finally succumbed to sleep. He carefully sat on the edge of the bed and reached out to gently run his hand through Ianto’s hair. Ianto sighed and tilted his head into the caress.

“Ianto,” Jack said softly.

“Mmmm,” Ianto replied, burying his face in the pillow.

“Ianto, I need you to wake up for me,” he said, gently shaking Ianto’s shoulder.

“Sleeping,” Ianto mumbled into the pillow.

Jack laughed softly. “I know you’re sleeping. But you have to wake up for a few minutes.”

Ianto sighed, but didn’t move.

“Ianto? Yan?” Jack asked.

Ianto cracked one eye open and glared at Jack. “I’m awake. See? Eyes open. Now go away.”

“Actually, only one eye is open.”

Ianto rolled over and sat up. He leaned forward and kissed Jack with both eyes open.

“That good enough?” Ianto asked huskily as their lips parted.

Jack shook his head.

Ianto smiled. “Well, it’ll have to do. I’m too tired for anything else,” he said, lying back down.

“Sweet dreams,” Jack said, bending over to kiss his forehead. 

He waited until Ianto’s eyes had drifted closed before walking over to the ladder.

“Jack?” Ianto called softly.

“Yes?” he asked, turning to see Ianto propped up on his elbow.

“When are you coming to bed?”

Jack swallowed hard. “I’ll check on you again in an hour.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“I know,” he replied, then climbed up into his office.


	13. The Long Night of Ianto Jones

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jack comes to bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **SEX!** Ahem, there is sex in this chapter. It is explicit. There is also a lot of angst.

When Jack went down to check on Ianto an hour later, Ianto softly invited him into bed.

Jack refused.

The next hour, Ianto pulled Jack down to him and made the same demand with a passionate kiss.

Jack refused with more than a little difficulty.

When Jack went to wake Ianto for what he figured would be the final time—after all these hours, Jack figured Ianto was probably out of danger—Ianto didn’t say anything, just pled with his eyes.

Jack succumbed to a degree, sitting on the edge of the bed and leaning down to softly kiss Ianto’s forehead and cheeks.

“Jack,” Ianto whispered.

Jack smiled and brushed some curls back off Ianto’s forehead before kissing him softly on the lips.

“Sleep,” Jack breathed against Ianto’s parted lips.

“Easier with you,” Ianto whispered.

And it was. With Jack to hold on to, he could keep the nightmares away. As rough as the previous night had been, listening to Jack moan and cry out, it had been far better than the nights previous. When his own terrors had come whispering in the darkness, drawing him back into a particular circle of his own personal hell.

Jack smiled sadly, oblivious to Ianto’s thoughts, and ran his fingers through Ianto’s hair, trying to soothe the younger man into sleep.

Ianto fought against sleep, but the painkillers and his body’s exhaustion, compounded with the concern coming off Jack through the touch of his fingers, pushed him softly into slumber.

Once Ianto’s breathing evened out, Jack quietly walked over to the armchair in the corner of the room and settled in to watch Ianto sleep. 

Ianto sighed Jack’s name and rolled toward the wall, presenting Jack with the broad expanse of his back. Jack’s mouth went dry as Ianto moved restlessly in the bed, enraptured by the sight of Ianto’s back muscles moving under his skin. He itched to touch that flesh, knowing exactly how it would feel sliding beneath his hands. Before the thought even registered, he was beside the bed, shedding his clothes. 

He climbed into bed beside Ianto, then reached out slowly to touch Ianto’s shoulder. He ran his hand slowly down Ianto’s back, tracing his spine with his fingertips. Ianto sighed and arched into the caress. Smiling, Jack slid his hand over to Ianto’s hip, gently gripping the familiar flesh.

“Jack,” Ianto sighed softly, shivering slightly.

Jack slid closer and leaned up on an elbow, checking to make sure Ianto was still asleep. The dark curve of his eyelashes against his pale skin assured Jack he was. Jack laid his head back down on the pillow. Cautiously, he moved the hand on Ianto’s hip up to rest against Ianto’s chest, over his heart. Ianto made no sound, but his body arched back against Jack’s, settling into the familiar curves of Jack’s body.

“I’m sorry, Ianto,” Jack whispered, closing his eyes.  
******

“Oh, where to begin. Where to begin,” the Master sighed, tapping his folded hands against his mouth.

Ianto watched him warily from his position, hanging by his wrists from chains in the ceiling. They had removed his shoes and his feet were scraping across the cold metal floor whenever he tried to move.

“Stop squirming,” the Master said, punching him in the face.

“I like him squirming,” Jeff said.

The Master rolled his eyes. “I told you. If you can’t keep your mouth shut, you have to wait in the hall.”

Jeff shut his mouth, but smiled at Ianto.

Ianto could only see out of his left eye, but he could see the hunger in Jeff’s eyes. It made his skin crawl.

“Now, Ianto. All I want to know is how the Freak works. Five months and I haven’t been able to figure it out. But if you tell me. I’ll let you go,” the Master said, blocking Jeff’s view of Ianto.

Ianto glared at him.

“No? Hmm…I could let him interrogate you,” he said, pointing at Jeff. “I’m sure he would find…less pleasant ways to get you to talk,” he said, circling behind Ianto. “Of course, that would be after he was done with your mouth,” he said against Ianto’s ear.

Ianto shuddered. He couldn’t hold it back any longer.

“Ah. There we are. You can go now. Close the door behind you,” the Master said to Jeff, walking toward him.

“But I thought—”

“Which is why you aren’t paid to think,” the Master said, shoving him outside. He turned back to Ianto. “Now, let’s start with your hands…”  
******

Ianto whimpered in his sleep. Jack slid both arms around him, pulling Ianto close against him. “Sshh,” he soothed. “I’m here, Ianto. Wake up.”

“No. Oh stop, please…no more…I can’t…I won’t. No, please! Stop!” Ianto shouted, sitting up awkwardly, Jack’s arms still around him.

“Ianto! Wake up!” Jack said, moving his hands to Ianto’s shoulders.

Ianto snapped awake, responding more to the tone than the words. “Jack,” he gasped.

“Yes.”

Ianto sagged against Jack, resting his head on the older man’s shoulder. “Home,” he said softly.

“You want me to take you home?” Jack asked, puzzled.

“No. It’s…never mind.”

They sat in silence for a moment, Ianto’s face pressed against Jack’s neck and Jack softly stroking his hair.

“Ianto, was it…did I do that?” Jack asked hesitantly.

“What? No,” he said, sitting back. “Why would you think that?”

“I had started to doze off a bit and…well, with everything, I know your walls are weak and I thought maybe I was projecting.”

Ianto sighed and laid back down. “No, it wasn’t you. That nightmare was 100% my property.”

Jack laid beside him, propping himself up on an elbow. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Ianto took Jack’s free hand and placed it over his chest, seemingly absentmindedly. “It wasn’t anything coherent. Just images, mostly,” he said, gently running his fingers over the back of Jack’s hand.

“It sounded coherent from where I was,” Jack replied.

Ianto pulled his hand away from Jack’s and put it under his head. “It doesn’t matter.”

“Of course it matters,” Jack said, his fingers tracing patterns over Ianto’s chest.

Ianto smiled at the movement. He was rather sure Jack wasn’t aware he was doing it. “It’s over. I’m here now. With you,” he said, turning his head to look at Jack.

“Ianto,” Jack sighed, dropping his head on the pillow beside Ianto’s.

Ianto turned toward Jack. “Don’t talk. Just hold me again,” he said, sliding his arm around Jack’s waist and pulling him close.

Jack moaned softly and kissed Ianto. “All right,” he whispered.

“Just this,” Ianto whispered, sliding his thigh between Jack’s, settling in.

Minutes later, Jack was lulled into sleep by the steady rhythm of Ianto’s heart.  
******

Jack didn’t sleep long, his usual sleepless pattern beginning to reassert itself. He awoke to the familiar weight of Ianto in his arms. He opened his eyes slowly and stared down into Ianto’s sleeping face.

The young Welshman was beautiful in repose. Carefully, Jack lifted his hand to stroke Ianto’s cheek. He couldn’t help himself; he had been yearning for Ianto for a year. He had told the Doctor that returning was about responsibility, but it wasn’t. It was about Ianto. Ianto, whose death had broken him. He had had to come back and see for himself that Ianto was still alive.

Ianto turned his head into the caress. When he remained asleep, Jack leaned forward and gently kissed him. Ianto’s mouth softened under his, but he didn’t wake. Encouraged, Jack took Ianto’s lower lip between his, sucking lightly. Ianto sighed into his mouth. Jack moved his arm and slid his hand down Ianto’s back, caressing his spine. Ianto moaned, arching against Jack’s body. Jack groaned deep in his throat and brushed against Ianto’s lips with his tongue. Ianto opened his mouth to him, sighing sleepily as Jack tasted him. 

Jack kept his touches light, not wanting Ianto to fully awaken. He slid his hands up Ianto’s back and groaned as Ianto arched into the touch. As Ianto moved under the caress, Jack realized he had remembered perfectly how Ianto’s skin felt beneath his hands.

“Jack,” Ianto breathed as Jack moved his lips to find a better angle.

“Ssh. It’s all right,” Jack said before taking his mouth again. 

Ianto responded, slipping his tongue between Jack’s lips and holding Jack against him with a firm grip on his hips. 

Jack groaned and pressed Ianto back into the mattress, the kiss becoming hungrier.

“Oh yes,” Ianto sighed as Jack’s mouth moved down his neck. 

Jack paused in his path down Ianto’s torso to tease Ianto’s nipples with teeth and tongue.

Jack’s mouth on him was an exquisite release. It had been so long. He was trying very hard to keep his responses to the wondrous things Jack’s mouth was doing to him wordless. He didn’t want words to break the spell and make Jack stop what he was doing.

Jack almost wept at the keening noises coming from Ianto’s throat. For months, he had been convinced he would never hear those sounds again. He paused to look up at Ianto, his hands gripping Ianto’s hips. The younger man’s head was tilted back on the pillow, his lips parted in ecstasy and wet from Jack’s kisses.

It was both the most beautiful and most erotic sight Jack had ever seen.

Ianto opened his eyes and looked down at Jack. Jack’s eyes were almost black with passion. He reached out to run his hand lightly through Jack’s hair.

“Please,” Ianto said.

Jack slid back up Ianto’s body and took his mouth in a fierce, hungry kiss. Ianto buried his hands in Jack’s hair and responded hungrily to the kiss. 

“Yes,” Ianto said. “More.” He thrust his hips up against Jack’s, pressing his own erection against Jack’s hardened cock.

Jack groaned and tore his mouth away from Ianto’s. He stared down at the younger man, panting.

“Ianto…” he whispered.

“Yes,” Ianto said, more a demand than an answer.

Jack pressed his mouth against the skin over Ianto’s heart in a long, firm kiss. 

Ianto’s breath caught in his throat as he waited for Jack to move again.

Jack could feel Ianto’s heartbeat beneath his lips, rapid with anticipation. He squeezed his eyes shut against the memory of Ianto’s still, cold body in his arms. He sucked in a harsh breath as frenzy caught him. He slid down in the bed, tearing Ianto’s boxer shorts away to get at the warm flesh throbbing with life beneath them.

Ianto cried out and dug his fingers into the mattress as Jack quickly took him into his mouth.

This, Jack remembered well. The feel of Ianto in his mouth: hot, slick and pulsing. He laved the aching flesh with his tongue even as he increased the suction, drawing Ianto’s cock further down his throat. Ianto’s hips bucked uncontrollably against Jack’s mouth as he gasped out wordless pleas.

Jack dug his fingers into Ianto’s hips, holding the younger man in place as he tried to burn away all the images of his death.

It had never been like this between them; this hungry, desperate contact. Ianto moaned as Jack’s nails dug into his flesh, marking him in a way he’d never done before. The muscles in his stomach and thighs tightened as Jack drove him furiously toward release.

Jack moaned as Ianto spilled into his mouth, swallowing every last drop of his release. As Ianto’s orgasm shuddered to its conclusion, he stuttered out Jack’s name. Jack dug his nails even further into the skin covering Ianto’s hips as the emotional release triggered his own orgasm.

Jack slowly lifted his head to look at Ianto. The Welshman was sweaty and shuddering against the sheets, a low purr trembling out of his throat. Jack moved slowly, reaching one hand out to caress his cheek.

He froze as he noticed the blood on his fingers. He looked down to see five bloody holes in the flesh around each of Ianto’s hipbones.

Ianto opened his eyes at the sudden stillness in the room. He caught the look of horror on Jack’s face.

“What is it?” Ianto asked, sitting up and reaching out for him.

Jack let out a wounded mewl as he stared at Ianto’s bleeding hips.

“It’s all right, Jack,” Ianto said, carefully moving toward him.

A sob got caught in Jack’s throat as he pulled Ianto into a fierce embrace.

“No, it isn’t,” he whispered.

“Jack—”

Jack cut him off with a soft kiss. “I’m sorry.”

Then he stood up and hurried out of the room, going through the door that would lead him, eventually, to the showers.

Ianto scrambled out of the bed. For a moment, he thought of following Jack to the showers, but something in him told him it would only make things worse. 

“Damn it!” he shouted at the empty room.

He hurriedly pulled on his clothes and left the Hub, frustrated and angry.  
******

“All right. Sweet zombie Jesus, it’s four in the morning!”

Elle opened her front door to find Ianto standing with his fist raised to start pounding on the wood again.

Ianto’s glittering eyes met hers.

“Blades.”


	14. Wounds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Ianto and Elle spar; Jack feels guilty; and Jack and Elle finally meet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is violence in this chapter; in the form of two highly-trained wetworks specialists beating the snot out of each other in sparring as a form of catharsis.

Elle’s eyes widened. Then her gaze hardened. “What happened?”

Ianto pushed past her into the house.

Elle quickly locked the door and followed Ianto. “I asked you a question,” she said, grabbing his shoulder.

He whirled on her and shoved her against the wall. “And I’ll answer it when I’m goddamn good and ready,” he growled, then released her.

Elle smiled coldly at his back as he headed for the basement.

“The weapons locker is locked,” Ianto said as she joined him.

“That’s rather the point of a locker,” she replied, her hands in her pockets.

“Open it,” he demanded.

She tilted her head to the side and stared at him. “Manners, Mr. Jones.”

“Unlock it or I’ll tear it apart with my bare hands!” he yelled.

She was taken aback. She had never seen this level of fury from Ianto. She calmly walked over and disengaged the lock on the weapons cabinet.

“What will it be?” she asked, stepping back from the cabinet.

“Swords and daggers,” he said, throwing open the doors and reaching in.

Elle nodded and grabbed her own rapier and dagger. Ianto chose a set he was familiar with.

“I trust you’ve kept them suitably sharpened?” he asked.

“If I wasn’t sure you’d take it as an invitation, I’d smack you for that,” she said calmly, walking to the center of the room.

Ianto joined her and settled into a comfortable fighting stance.

“You sure about this?” she asked, taking up her own stance.

“Completely.”

“Then, for once, don’t bother holding back,” she replied, lunging at him.  
******

He had fucked up. Royally. In the long, storied and dark history of his personal fuck-uppery, this had to be in the top ten. At least the top twenty.

Jack sighed as the hot water pounded down on him. He looked down at his hands. He knew he had scrubbed all the blood and skin out from under his nails, knew it had gone down the drain; but he could still see it. He clenched his fists and thought of hitting the wall. Then he remembered his hand was still healing from the last time he’d done that and it would just make more work for Ianto.

Ianto.

Jack groaned, pressing his forehead against the tile. Something in him had snapped and he’d had to have him in his arms. Against his body. In his mouth. He had used Ianto viciously, letting part of the darkness slip out. Only for a moment, but the damage had been done. Now, every time he looked at Ianto, he’d see the marks he had put there. Oh sure, he’d put his mark on Ianto before, but those had been in passion, not violence.

He reached out and turned the water temperature to ice cold. He gasped, then grit his teeth. He had to snap out of this. He would just have to come up with a reason for not touching Ianto anymore. He had to put all of his walls back up, not even allowing in his…lover. He was suddenly sadly thankful he had never told Ianto he loved him. He could handle hurting Ianto; he couldn’t forgive himself for breaking him.

Jack got out of the shower and toweled himself dry. A dozen plausible excuses for breaking things off with the young Welshman danced through his head. None of them were outright lies, but most barely skirted the edge of half-truth. 

“You bastard,” he said to himself as he started to walk toward his room. “At least tell him the truth. You can’t be with him because you can’t control your demons. You’re going to hurt him so you don’t kill him. You coward,” he finished viciously.

He barely paused before throwing the door open, not wanting to give himself a chance to talk himself out of it.

The room was empty.

“Ianto?” he called out, as though Ianto could actually find a good place to hide in the small room. Still, he turned on the light and called out his name again.

When he didn’t receive a reply, he hurried to the main part of the Hub. The computer logs and CCTV showed him that Ianto had left the Hub shortly after Jack had gone to the shower.

“Damn it.”  
******

“Stop cutting me slack, Ianto. It’s insulting,” Elle said, parrying a well-telegraphed thrust.

The left hip of her yoga pants were sliced open, the wound beneath bleeding freely. Her right arm had a few shallow cuts, more irritations than actual wounds. Her left cheekbone was scored open and bleeding. Her feet were bare and she was grinning like a madwoman, but her eyes were clear and focused.

“You were a bit slow on that last turn, Elle. Just giving you a chance to catch your breath,” he replied.

She laughed and lunged toward him, opening a shallow wound over his left fourth rib. He had discarded the shirt half an hour ago after she had sliced several buttons off of it. A cut just beneath his hairline was slowly bleeding and he had to pause every once in a while to fling blood out of his eye. Overall, Elle looked far worse for wear.

He calmly matched her movements as she glided away from him after scoring her hit. She moved like a dancer. A dancer in a murderous ballet.

She loved watching him move when he had blades in his hands. No one else had the same level of deadly grace. She allowed his movements to distract her and he deftly moved in, divesting her of her rapier. She smiled up at him and brought her right leg up, placing her foot on his wounded left hip and applying pressure.

Ianto grit his teeth and jumped back from her. “Finally, she digs into her bag of dirty tricks,” he said approvingly. He knew his rhythm was off due to the slight pain in his hips. He also knew that while it was hardly noticeable, Elle had picked up on it.

She laughed and circled him, working out how to get his rapier out of his hand and even the odds. “Are we going to talk about how your hips got wounded?”

“No.”

“Come on, Ianto. You show up here at the stroke of it’s-too-fucking-early and demand a session with sharp objects and I’ve played along for 80 minutes. I think I’ve earned some answers.”

He raised his eyebrow at her.

“Don’t even try to use that eyebrow on me, Jones.”

“All right. If you can get my sword out of my hand in the next 90 seconds, I’ll tell you everything.”

“Got a stopwatch?”

His astonishment gave her the opening she needed. In three quick moves, his rapier was across the room and they had daggers at each other’s throats.

“That’s why I still out-clearance you,” she said softly.

“You’re retired,” he ground out, then pushed her away from him, his blade cutting through the strap of her tank top.

She nimbly maintained her balance and began circling him again. “You’re not going to get out of that explanation by getting me out of my clothes.”

“It’s worked before.”

“Things change.”

He began to lightly toss the dagger from hand to hand as he mirrored her movements.

“Show off,” she muttered.

He smiled and continued to stalk her.

“All right, I’ll start. I’m guessing it was Jack and it was something sexual. Am I close?”

She didn’t see him move. One minute, he was several feet away and the next, he was on her, the handle of his dagger slamming into her wrist. It was surprise more than pain that made her drop her own dagger. Seconds later, she was on her back, Ianto straddling her hips and the point of his dagger over her heart.

He stared down at her, panting as his eyes filled with tears.

Slowly, without taking her eyes off his, she reached forward and unbuttoned his trousers. She carefully pulled them open until her fingertips brushed his hipbones, causing him to whimper. She broke their gaze and looked down at the wounds.

“Oh Ianto,” she whispered.

He leapt up and flung the dagger away. “He didn’t mean to. We just…got a little rough,” he said.

She jumped up with equal grace and grabbed his shoulders. “‘We’ or ‘he’?” she asked.

“He didn’t give me the chance to touch him,” he whispered, unable to meet her gaze.

Elle swallowed a sigh. Ianto didn’t need pity or a lecture right now. Oh, he needed the lecture and a few sharp smacks to the head; but first he needed a shower and medical attention.

“Upstairs. We need to get cleaned up. I got you good on the ribs; we should make sure it doesn’t need stitches.”

Ianto snorted. “If it does, I’ll just use some superglue. I’ve seen your stitching. Staples are more subtle.”

She punched him in the arm. “Fuck you.”

“Only if you shower first. You reek.”

She swept his legs out from under him. “Race you,” she said, then ran out of the room.

In the end, Elle took pity on Ianto and let him have the shower first. He swatted her away from the wound on his ribs, saying it could wait until she had showered, but let her clean and bandage the marks on his hips. He sprawled on her bed in his boxers after, holding a flannel to the wound on his ribs until she was done in the shower, when she would take care of that and the still slowly bleeding head wound. He fell asleep shortly after he heard Elle start to sing in the shower. The Who. Spectacularly off key.  
******

After pacing the Hub for almost an hour, calling Ianto and getting his voice mail every five minutes, Jack had traced Ianto’s cell phone to the house he was now silently breaking into. He had wondered briefly if Ianto had moved since he went traveling with the Doctor, but the décor was definitely not Ianto’s style. He heard a shower running upstairs and followed the noise, his gun out just in case.

He came to a startled stop as he saw Ianto asleep on the bed. His gaze was first drawn to the twin gauze bandages peeking out from beneath the waistband of Ianto’s boxers. Then he saw the blood on Ianto’s forehead and the bloodied flannel over his ribs and moved forward quickly.

The click of a gun being cocked stopped him in his tracks.

“If you’re an intruder, you have three seconds to drop that before I put a hole in your shoulder,” the towel-clad woman said softly.

“You hurt him,” Jack said, his tone deadly.

She tilted her head to the side. “At least I let him give at least as good as he got.”

Jack barely managed to stop the whimper in his throat as he turned his gaze to the still-sleeping Welshman.

In that moment, Elle realized Ianto was wrong. Horribly wrong. Jack Harkness hadn’t been broken. He had been _shattered._


	15. Loving Ianto

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which, surprisingly, Jack and Elle manage to have a civilized chat. Unsurprisingly, it revolves around Ianto.

Jack stood staring at Ianto’s sleeping form; Elle stood on the opposite side of the bed staring at Jack. She could see the pain and loss and…love on his face as he looked at Ianto. 

Ianto’s brow furrowed and he whimpered in his sleep.

“Jack,” she said quietly, lowering her gun.

Jack turned his head to look at her.

“Ianto needs to sleep. You should leave.”

Anger flared in his eyes. “I’m not leaving him—”

She held up her hand to stop him. “The room, Jack. Go downstairs to the kitchen. I’ll put some clothes on and meet you there.”

He looked down at Ianto again.

“Jack, you’re broadcasting and he’s about reached his limit. Please.”

He nodded and put his gun away. He reached out to touch Ianto, but paused just before making contact with the younger man. He clenched his hand into a fist, then turned and fled the room.

Elle sighed and put the gun in the bedside table. She leaned down and pressed a soothing kiss to Ianto’s forehead. “You sure know how to pick them, don’t you, love?” she whispered.  
******

“Took you long enough,” Jack said as she entered the kitchen dressed in sweats and a t-shirt.

“I took a few minutes to see to Ianto’s wounds,” she explained, walking to the coffee pot. “Care for a cup?” she asked.

“Please,” Jack replied, straining for normalcy.

Elle nodded and busied herself setting the coffee to brew. Then she sat down across from Jack.

“What happened?” he asked.

“I could ask you the same thing.”

“That was between Ianto and me.”

“So was what he and I did to each other,” she replied archly.

Jack leaned forward. “I want answers.”

“So do I. I tried asking Ianto, but that just pissed him off.”

“Ianto’s a very private person.”

“Not with me,” she said.

“Who are you?”

“I’m Elle.”

“How do you know Ianto?”

“We used to work together.”

“You survived Canary Wharf,” he said, sounding warily impressed.

“Yes, I did. And before you ask, I’m rather enjoying my retirement.”

“Is that what you call it?” he asked, nodding at the cut on her cheek.

She laughed. “What’re a few sword cuts among friends?”

“I’m sorry, swords?”

She tilted her head to the side again. “Ianto’s very good with blades.”

“I didn’t know.”

“How much do you know about Ianto’s life before you? Did you bother to look further than how beautifully his suits cling to his arse?”

“I read his file. He was an archivist. He’s put those skills to very good use for us.”

“Jack, Ianto worked in Secure Archives. It’s completely different from being an archivist,” she said, rising to prepare their coffees.

“So he needed a higher clearance level. So what?”

“Jack, Secure Archives was Yvonne Hartmann’s black bag division,” she replied as she sat down.

“What? She wasn’t authorized for wetworks.”

“Hence the name Secure Archives. How do you think One got all those artifacts? Did you honestly think that aliens and foreign countries just handed them over because we asked nicely?”

“And Ianto?”

“Ianto was very good at what he did.”

Jack tried to wrap his brain around the image of Ianto out in the field. He shook his head; all he kept seeing was Ianto bound and gagged in the cannibals’ home.

“He shouldn’t have been out in the field,” Jack ground out. “He’s an empath. Don’t you understand what that kind of work would do to him?”

“That didn’t stop you,” she said narrowly. “But yes, I do. That’s why I pulled him out of the field as quickly as I could. He mainly worked intelligence for us, unless I could send a blocker with him. I convinced Yvonne his eidetic memory was of more use to us than his skill with weapons.”

“I’m surprised she didn’t hand him over to be poked and prodded and tested. Empaths of his caliber are rare,” Jack said.

“I’m sure she would have if she had known.”

“You didn’t tell her?”

“Now why would I do that?”

“She was the head of Torchwood,” Jack said.

She snorted. “Yvonne Hartman shouldn’t have been put in charge of a bowl of sea monkeys, let alone Torchwood.”

Jack smiled at the assessment. 

“Why here? Why did he come to you?” he asked after a few moments of silence.

Elle tilted her head to the side, studying him; trying to figure out if she should tell him. Then she shrugged.

“Habit. When he was hurt, he always came to me.”

“Always?”

“Always.”

They sat in silence; Jack trying to figure out just what Elle knew about him and Ianto. Elle studied Jack. This was the first time she had been able to get close to the man who held Ianto’s heart; she was going to take in everything she could.

“I love him,” Jack finally whispered.

“I’m not the one you should tell. You idiot.”

The corner of Jack’s mouth quirked up. “I know. But I can’t tell him.”

“Why not?”

“He’s here. He’s hurt. I’m hurting him. Physically and psychically. If I tell him I love him, it will break him. He won’t be able to stop trying to help me; and I’ll drag him down into the Darkness with me. I have to keep away from him or I’ll destroy us both,” he said, his voice cracking.

“Jack—”

He stood up. “Thank you for the coffee. And for taking care of him.”

Jack briefly squeezed her shoulder before walking toward the kitchen door.

“Never took you for a coward, Harkness,” she said without turning around.

“Wouldn’t you do anything to save someone you love?” he asked softly.

She heard the front door close behind him.  
*******

She stood beside the bed, watching Ianto sleep. Outwardly, she projected comfort; inwardly, her mind was running over the conversation she had just had with Jack. She really wanted to smack the two men’s heads together. If they would just talk to each other, they’d get through this with far less bloodshed.

Ianto slowly opened his eyes. “Something wrong?” he asked sleepily.

“I wanted to take a nap and found Curlylocks in my bed.”

He held out his hand to her. “I’ll share if you promise not to snore.”

She laughed, then climbed into the bed beside him.

He immediately curled up against her, his head on her breast, and fell back asleep as she sifted her fingers through his hair.

Wouldn’t you do anything to save someone you love? Jack had asked.

“I’m working on it,” she thought, closing her eyes.


	16. The Truth Hurts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jack and Ianto have a fight. Shouting, accusations and a revelation are involved.

Ianto slowly slid out of sleep. He kept his eyes closed, taking a moment to figure out where he was. He wasn’t at home and he wasn’t in Jack’s bed at the Hub. Yet he felt safe and there was a warm body beneath his, holding him.

Elle. That’s right. He had come here after he and Jack—he whimpered softly.

“It does no good to spend the day in a restorative slumber if you’re going to tense up the moment you wake,” she said, stroking his back.

“How long was I asleep?” he asked, his voice raspy.

“About ten hours. How do you feel?”

He opened his eyes and lifted his head to look at her. “If I said great, would you believe me?”

“Not for a second,” she replied, grinning at him.

“How about better?”

She tilted her head and nodded. “I can live with better. Come on, get up and get dressed. We can have dinner.”

“First sparring, then a day-long nap with you and now you’re going to cook me dinner? I should push myself beyond my limits more often,” he said, raising an eyebrow.

Elle laughed and sat up. “You’re cooking. You still owe me dinner.”

“Damn, I was hoping you had forgotten.”

“When it comes to food, my memory is perfect.”

Ianto laughed and climbed out of the bed, wincing as the wound over his ribs pulled. He looked down at the dressing on it. 

“I did that while you were asleep,” Elle explained. “You never moved, even when I poured peroxide in it.”

“You didn’t stitch it, did you?” he asked, smiling.

She threw a pillow at his head. “Go. Get dressed and start cooking.”

He chuckled as he walked out of the room.

She leaned back against the headboard and sighed, debating whether or not to tell Ianto that Jack had been there. It wasn’t that she wanted to lie to him, she just didn’t want to get stuck shuttling messages and conversations between the two men. If she stayed out of it, they may just end up talking to each other. But the sorrow in Jack’s eyes—

“Jack was here?” Ianto asked, coming back into the bedroom.

“Damn it! I thought you couldn’t do that from another room.”

Ianto shrugged. “Some emotions are stronger than others and you’ve always been easy for me to pick up.”

“Watch it,” she said, smiling.

He returned the smile, a slight blush on his cheeks. “You know what I mean.”

“He was worried about you,” she said as Ianto sat back down on the bed.

“He doesn’t want me.”

“Don’t be an ass.”

“I mean, he doesn’t want to want me. He’s afraid of…I don’t know. Everything.”

“Ianto, you need to talk to each other. Tie him to a chair if you have to.”

He gave her a dark look.

“Right. Year of Hell. Tying him to anything is a bad idea. Sorry, I forgot.”

“I wish he and I could.”

Elle sighed. “Well, you can’t. So the two of you are either going to have to grow up, confront it together and move forward with your lives or stay the hell away from each other.”

Ianto flinched at the harshness in her tone. Part of him understood it; being sensitive to his emotions wouldn’t help in this situation. The other part of him was still angry—at Jack, at himself, at the Master and the Doctor—and wanted to argue with her. That part wanted to lash out, to just ignore everything but the pain.

“You’re right,” he said.

“I know. And I think you should go home. Get a good night’s sleep in your own bed for once. Then go in to work tomorrow and see what happens.”

He nodded. “And if Jack asks me about you?”

She shrugged. “Tell him the truth. At least it’ll get the two of you talking to each other.”  
******

Jack almost jumped for joy when the alarm went off. He pulled up the information on Tosh’s computer, his enthusiasm only slightly dampened when he saw it was just Weevils. But it was a lot of Weevils; about half a dozen.

He hurried to the SUV, pausing to make sure it was loaded with plenty of Weevil spray and nets, then jumping behind the wheel. He didn’t even think of calling the others in to help; he needed this, needed to feel he was back where he belonged and back in control.

He was regretting that need some two hours later when he was bruised and bloodied and had just finished hauling the fifth semi-conscious Weevil into the cells. He went to the showers and stripped out of his bloodied (probably ruined) clothes. He carefully touched the three claw wounds across his neck. They could probably use stitches, but he would have to take care of them himself tonight. He’d also have to suffer through the bruised ribs.

After a long, leisurely shower, he pulled on fresh underwear and trousers, then headed up to autopsy to dig through Owen’s medical supplies. He soon found everything he needed to treat his wounds. He grimaced as he caught sight of his face in the mirror—he’d have a beauty of a black eye and his lip was split. The break in his lip made him think of Ianto, who had been the last person to cause similar damage.

He winced as he thought of Ianto. As distracting as the Weevil hunt had been, it didn’t change the fact that he had to do something about the young man. He laughed harshly, picturing Ianto’s reaction to knowing Jack intended to “do something” about him without his input.

Jack shook his head and cleaned up the mess he had made in autopsy, then went back to his office to take another crack at his paperwork. He checked his watch; Ianto would be there in a few hours, followed, staggeringly, by the rest of the team.

He knew the others would have a field day lecturing him about not calling them for help when they saw his injuries. It would be blissfully normal.  
******

Ianto straightened his tie while he waited for the cog door to finish opening. He paused, reveling in the moment. For the first time in too long, when he stepped into the Hub, Jack would be there waiting. It would be just like old times. He straightened his shoulders, mentally preparing himself for what he had to do today, then walked through the open doorway. 

“Ianto! Right on time! Just like the old days,” Jack called from his office.

Ianto paused. Jack was acting entirely too cheerful. “Er, yes. I’ll just start the coffee, then?”

“Yes. I could really use some of your super-strength coffee. I really missed that while I was gone,” he said, letting the mask slip a little.

“I’ll bring it to your office, then.”

“Good,” Jack said, and turned to walk back into his office.

“And then you can tell me all about the bandage on your neck,” Ianto called after him.

Jack smiled. Leave it to Ianto to notice the small detail. 

“So, what did you do?” Ianto asked a few minutes later as he set Jack’s coffee down in front of him.

“Would you believe me if I told you I picked up a trick that got rough with me?”

“No,” Ianto replied flatly; he knew when he was being baited.

Jack shrugged. It had been worth a try; check that off the list of buttons to push to get Ianto angry. “Weevil hunt in the middle of the night,” he finally said.

“How many?”

“Five.”

“Five?”

“They’re all down in the vaults now.”

“You should have Owen take a look at your wounds when he comes in.”

“I was planning on it,” Jack replied.

“Good. I’ll just head down and check on our new guests, then.”

Jack nodded. 

Ianto stood up and walked to the door.

“Ianto?”

“Yes, sir?”

“Are you—how are you feeling?”

“Nothing I can’t handle, sir.”

“Good,” he said, turning back to his paperwork. “That’s good,” he muttered under his breath.  
******

“First day back going badly?” Elle asked three hours later.

“Oh, Jack’s his old self. Flirting with everyone, especially Gwen,” Ianto replied. He was leaning on the desk in the Tourist Office, talking to Elle on his cell phone, one eye on the CCTV display of Jack in his office. He got lost for a moment in memories of Jack stripping in front of the camera to get Ianto’s attention late at night.

“Trying to get a rise out of you?”

“What?! Oh, the flirting. Probably. This morning he intimated that a wound to his throat was caused by a rough trick.”

“He didn’t have a mark on him when I saw him. And before you ask, I didn’t do anything to him.”

“No, it was a Weevil hunt.”

“Let me guess: he went out on his own to prove he was back in control of everything?”

“Something like that. How did you know?”

“I recognize the symptoms. Do you have these in a six?”

“What?”

“Sorry, I was talking to the salesgirl. You caught me shoe shopping.”

Ianto rolled his eyes. “You need another pair of shoes like I need another hole in my head.”

“That can be arranged.”

“What are they?”

“Knee high black Skecher boots. Four inch heel,” she said, sighing in pleasure.

“Boot whore.”

“Shiny edged weapon whore,” she countered.

He chuckled.

“So, he’s flirting with Gwen, huh?”

“He’s always had feelings for her. I guess it’s easier to flirt with someone you didn’t watch get tortured and murdered.”

“Mm-hm. You gonna take the bait?”

“I haven’t decided yet.”

“Yes you have.”

“Ianto, we need you down here!” Jack called through his comm.

“Gotta go,” Ianto said to Elle before hanging up. “On my way, Jack,” he said into the comm as he hurried downstairs.  
******

“So, basically, you’re asking for volunteers to go back into the countryside to investigate a possible spaceship crash landing?” Owen asked.

They were all seated around the conference table. Jack had just finished explaining that Tosh had picked up an incoming object that crashed in the countryside. Jack vaguely recognized the size and shape of the ship. It was a non-violent race, but you could never be too careful; especially if you didn’t know who would find it.

“No need for volunteers; I put all your names in a hat and drew one out. Gwen, you’re with me. Owen, you’re in charge of the Hub until I get back. Try not to open the Rift while I’m gone,” Jack said.

Owen flipped him off.

Ianto stood up.

“Where are you going, Ianto?” Tosh asked.

“I was going to make sure the SUV was fully stocked to handle anything Jack and Gwen might get into,” he said, then left the conference room.

“All right, that’s it. Tosh, make sure you keep feeding any information to the SUV; Gwen, you’ve got about two minutes to call and make your apologies to Rhys unless you want to do it from the SUV,” Jack said, standing up.

Tosh nodded and hurried to her desk. Gwen rolled her eyes and headed for the relative privacy of her desk to make the call. Owen remained in his chair, staring at Jack.

“What?” Jack asked.

“Nothing. I just figured that if you were going to only take one of us into the country, it would be Ianto. You know, some time alone.”

“I need Gwen. Besides, Ianto had a bad time of it last time we were in the country.”

“Yeah, right. Getting shot was a piece of cake for Gwen.”

“Questioning my decisions, Owen? You’re not going to shoot me in the head again, are you?”

Owen stood and stretched. “Not today. I’ve got too much work to do.”

“Then get to it.”

“Right. Bloody Harkness,” he muttered under his breath as he left.  
******

Ianto realized it was hardly fair to take his frustration out on the supplies, but that didn’t stop him.

“I think the boot is as packed as it’s going to get,” Jack said from behind him.

“Don’t want the two of you to be stranded out there without something you’ll need.”

“Oh, I think Gwen and I can manage,” Jack said, his tone laden with suggestion.

Ianto whirled on him. “You know, there are more grown up ways of going about this.”

“About what?”

Ianto fought back the urge to widen the split in Jack’s lip. “This. You and me. I get that it scares the hell out of you. I get that you’re broken. I get that you don’t want me to watch or help you put yourself back together. I get that you don’t want to hurt me any more than you have to. But fucking say it to me; don’t wave your attraction to Gwen in front of me and hope I’ll run off in a snit!” he shouted.

“Maybe it isn’t about you. Maybe she can give me something you can’t!” Jack shouted back. This hurt, making Ianto angry enough to push him away; but it had to be done. And he had to carefully keep his real feelings wrapped up so Ianto wouldn’t see through him.

“I’m sure she can. But can she take what you have to get rid of? If you have to fuck the demon out of you, fine. But go find someone I don’t have to look in the eye every day.”

“Me? What about you? How long have you had someone on the side?” Jack shouted at him.

Ianto snorted. “You’re going to lecture me about monogamy?”

“At least I’m honest about it!”

“It seems sex is the only thing you are honest about! Gods forbid you be honest about your emotions! Not everyone wants to use them against you, Jack!” 

Ianto knew he shouldn’t be giving in to the anger; knew it was what Jack wanted. But, gods, it felt good to get this out. And if it kept Jack from doing something (or someone) stupid, all the better.

“The point remains I found you in someone else’s bed yesterday! Only hours after you had left mine!” Jack argued.

“After you ran out on me! Again!”

“Well you certainly didn’t waste any time finding someone to stand in for me.”

“Elle is not some placeholder.”

“Oh, that makes me feel so much better! Honestly, Ianto, have you ever bothered to fuck someone you weren’t working with?”

“You raging bastard,” Ianto ground out. “At least I don’t just ‘make do’ with whatever attractive body happens to be at hand while I wait for someone I really want.”

Jack didn’t hide the stricken look quickly enough; Ianto knew he had hit home. Hit a nerve Jack didn’t like admitting he had. Ianto knew he wasn’t just some part-time shag; but sometimes, in the empty hours, he did succumb to that fear. And Ianto knew Jack knew he did.

Jack cleared his throat. “So, Elle’s not just some ‘attractive body’ who happened to be at hand. And she’s not just some placeholder. Then who the fuck is she?”

Tell him the truth, Elle had said. Well, all right.

“Elle is my wife,” he said, then turned on his heel and left the garage, shouldering past Gwen on his way inside the Hub.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, bit of a cliffhanger. I'm sorry. But the computer was starting to get uppity.


	17. Searching

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jack asks Tosh to run a search; and Ianto and Elle have a chat about Ianto's revelation and we learn more about them in the process.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Torchwood peeps belong to BBC & RTD; Elle is mine. And now I have images of the Torchwood characters as Peeps and I'm laughing so hard I'm crying.

“How long was I gone?” Jack asked through gritted teeth.

“What?” Gwen asked, holding on to the armrest on the door for dear life.

Jack hadn’t said anything for the first five minutes of the drive. He had driven like an angry madman, swinging in and out of traffic, using accelerator and horn indiscriminately. Granted, neither the speed nor the horn was entirely unusual, but Jack’s silence had been.

“How long was I gone?” he repeated. “How many days passed between when I left and when you guys came back from the Himalayas?” he asked.

“Um, I don’t know. Nine, maybe ten days,” she said, closing her eyes as a lorry rushed toward them. “Jack!”

Jack swerved out of the way. “Not enough time. Had to have been earlier then,” he muttered.

“What had to have been?”

“Ianto,” he said shortly.

“Jack, I love Rhys.”

Jack rolled his eyes. “Relax, Gwen. I was trying to pick a fight with Ianto and it worked.”

“No, I mean I love him and I’d like to get home to him in one piece tonight!” she said, having to shout over the blaring of horns.

“Damn it!” Jack yelled, then wrenched the wheel, pulling the SUV into a spot along the curb. He unbuckled his seatbelt and tore it away from his body.

“You drive,” he said as he opened the car door and got out.

“What?!”

Jack stuck his head back into the car. “You. Drive.”

Gwen barely had time to scramble over into the driver’s seat before Jack was climbing in the passenger side, dialing his cell phone. She pulled the door closed, checked traffic and pulled away from the curb.

“Just follow the directions Tosh is forwarding to us through the onboard computer,” Jack said.

Gwen nodded, keeping her eyes on the road.

“Tosh, it’s me,” he said into his phone.

“Jack? Why aren’t you using comms? Is something wrong?” Tosh replied.

“No, everything’s fine. Is Ianto where he can hear you?”

“He’s in the Tourist Office.”

“Good. I need you to run some searches for me and I don’t want Ianto to know about it.”

“Jack, that’s going to be incredibly difficult. He knows everything.”

Jack sighed. “I know, Tosh. But if anyone can get past him, it’s you.”

“I’ll have to get him out of the Hub. Then backtrack and wipe all traces of the search,” she said, thinking out loud.

“Fine. Run the search after hours. It shouldn’t take long.”

“All right, Jack,” she said, clearly upset by the request. Ianto was her friend; she didn’t like doing things behind his back. “What’s the search?”

“First, I want you to do a follow-up check on all the female survivors of Torchwood One. It shouldn’t take you too long. I want careful attention to anyone named Elle and/or anyone who worked in Secure Archives.”

“Okay. Is that it?”

Jack took a deep breath. “No. I also need you to run a check on any marriage licenses with Ianto’s name.”

“What?”

“Just do it, Tosh. Print out the results and leave them on my desk for me. Then wipe your computer. Understood?”

“Yes, but—”

“No buts, Tosh. It’s an order.”

“Fine,” she said, then hung up.

Jack pulled the phone away from his ear and stared at it, a frown on his face.

“She hung up on you, didn’t she?” Gwen asked.

“Yes,” Jack replied, putting his phone away.

“Serves you right. Asking her to run a check on her best friend.”

“If you really want to get home to Rhys tonight, you should increase our speed.”

“So, you think Ianto’s married?” she said, redirecting the conversation as she applied pressure to the accelerator.

“He said he was.”

“And none of us have ever heard of it before now?” she asked skeptically.

“None of us knew he was hiding a Cyberwoman in the basement, either.”

Gwen nodded. “Point.”

“But it doesn’t make sense. He wouldn’t have shown such devotion to Lisa if he were married to someone else,” Jack said, rubbing his forehead.

“You don’t know that.”

Jack rolled his eyes. “Really, you think so?”

“All right, you’re probably right. So who’s this wife? Are you sure she exists?”

“You think Ianto imagined a wife?”

“No. But the two of you were fighting; maybe he said something he thought would hurt you.”

“No. I’ve met her. Hell, I’m the one who dragged her into the argument.”

“What’s she like?” Gwen asked.

“I’m not in the mood for gossip, Gwen. Just drive,” he said, leaning his head against the window.

Gwen shrugged and concentrated on the road.  
******

“Oh, you took the bait,” Elle said as she opened her front door.

“I took the bait. And I kind of threw you under the bus at the same time.”

She sighed. “Come in. Tell me why I have to beat you up.”

She led him to the living room and sat on the couch. He sat at the opposite end, just out of reach of a swift kick. She cocked an eyebrow at the positioning.

“All right, what happened?” she asked.

“Well, we were shouting at each other, really getting angry. And, in my defense, Jack brought you up first,” Ianto began.

“And?”

“And I took your advice and told him the truth.”

Elle tilted her head to the side, a puzzled look on her face. “So? He knows I worked with you at Torchwo—Oh, you didn’t,” she said, her eyes wide.

“I did.”

“Why?”

“It’s the truth!” he said defensively.

“Technically. Very technically. Like, textbook definition of technically.”

“He doesn’t have to know that.”

“Yes, he does.”

“Fine, he does,” Ianto admitted after a moment. “But he doesn’t have to know right away.”  
******

Gwen jumped out of the SUV as soon as it pulled to a stop in the Torchwood garage. The trip to the country had been a bust—the entire alien ship had been reduced to useless scraps of metal which were now in the back seat of the SUV. Jack’s mood had not improved and Gwen was itching to be away from the man.

Jack took no notice of her, just stormed into the Hub. He hurried to his office and smiled when he saw the stack of paper on his desk. His smiled dimmed when he realized it was a small stack of paper.

“Ianto!” he yelled, wanting a cup of coffee.

There was no response.

Jack sighed, realizing Ianto was either ignoring him or had gone home. Or gone to his wife.

He sat down and pulled the stack of paper toward him. The top page was a note written in Tosh’s elegant, flowing handwriting.

Jack,  
Here’s the information you wanted. There were no women named Elle who survived Torchwood one. There were two Elizabeths and an Eleanor, however; I have attached their current updates. No one survived from Secure Archives except Ianto Jones. As to your last request; there were fourteen marriage licenses filed with the name Ianto Jones in the past five years; none of them were our Ianto.  
Tosh

Jack sighed and sat back in his chair. He had known that it was probably a lost cause, but he had still needed someone to look. He ran his hands through his hair and sighed. Then he started laughing.

Ianto had needed to take Jack’s mind off the Year of Hell and Jack wouldn’t let him help him physically or emotionally. So Ianto had fallen back on his Torchwood training: he had manipulated Jack into a valid, consuming distraction.

“Damn him,” Jack said, laughing softly.   
******

“You know he’s going to start looking for me,” Elle said as she watched Ianto do the dishes.

“He already set Tosh on the task of looking up the survivors of Canary Wharf and searching through marriage licenses for my name,” Ianto replied.

“I don’t want to be found, Ianto. Not by Torchwood. They did enough to me; I gave them enough.”

Ianto turned to face her. Her voice had been low and serious. “They won’t find you, Elle. You don’t appear on the list of survivors; I took care of that.”

“What about when he starts looking through the files for all Torchwood employees? He knows I worked in Secure Archives, Ianto. I won’t be that difficult to find.”

“Elle, you’re not in the Torchwood Archives anymore. I took care of that once I came to Cardiff.”

“Ianto, you’re good, but are you sure it can withstand a search by someone as determined as Jack?”

He dried his hands on a towel and walked over to her, taking her into his arms. She pressed her cheek against his chest as he rested his chin on the top of her head. 

“I won’t let anything happen to you, Elle. Jack will soon see the argument for what it was: a way to get his mind on the here and now. To get everything out on the table.”

“I don’t recall agreeing to be put on a table,” she muttered.

Ianto chuckled.

“Check your pre-nup,” he said.

She poked him sharply in the ribs.

“Trust me, Elle. Jack won’t find any trace of you.”

“He might.”

Ianto lifted her chin so she could meet his gaze. “Even if, by some combination of thirteen miracles, he did, he’d never use that information against you. And he’d never share it with anyone else.”

“You’re sure?”

“Of Jack? Without question.”

She nodded. “All right. That’s good enough for me.” She stepped back from him and stretched, letting out a jaw-cracking yawn. “I had a long day. I’m going to bed; feel free to finish up the cleaning before you leave. Do lock up before you go,” she said.

Ianto laughed and nodded.

“And Ianto?”

“Yes?”

“Don’t be too hard on him. He does love you. Of that I am, without question, sure.”

He swallowed hard. “Good night, Elle.”

“Good night, Ianto.”


	18. Two Weeks Later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which things are back to normal in Torchwood, as far as Jack is concerned. The rest of the team have reservations.

“Ianto!” Jack called, his voice echoing off the walls of the garage.

Ianto, startled, jumped, the spanner in his hand falling into the innards of the SUV. “Damn it,” he muttered.

“Did I startle you?” Jack asked as he joined him.

“A bit, sir. Was there something you needed?” Ianto asked as he fished for the spanner.

“Coffee.”

Ianto paused and turned to look at Jack. In the two weeks since their fight in this very garage, Jack had not asked Ianto for coffee once. Ianto had still brought it to him whenever he felt Jack needed it, but the older man, to date, had not sought him out to ask for coffee. Or anything else. Ianto knew Jack was still having nightmares—if he slept, which was rarely. And Jack still refused to let Ianto any closer to him than he needed to be for regular Torchwood activities. It was driving Ianto to well-concealed distraction.

“Actual coffee? Or is that an offer?”

Jack smiled. “Actual coffee. The others went home hours ago and the pot’s empty. I tried making a pot on my own, but…” 

“But what?”

“Don’t be angry,” Jack said as Ianto wiped his hands on a rag.

Ianto paused, frowning. Whenever Jack began with that particular salvo, he’d just done something particularly…troublesome.

“I didn’t think it was a big deal, so I tried taking care of it myself,” Jack continued.

“What wasn’t a big deal?” Ianto asked. Then he narrowed his eyes as he looked Jack up and down. He noticed Jack was keeping his hands at his sides and favoring them. He reached out and snagged Jack’s hands at the wrists, turning them over so he could see the palms. Long cuts covered the surface of both palms.

“What happened?” Ianto asked, looking into Jack’s eyes.

Jack looked down at his hands, resting in the cradle of Ianto’s long fingers. “The machine started making some really weird noises and as I started throwing switches and hitting buttons to make it stop, I kind of knocked a bunch of mugs over.”

“Why didn’t you call me?”

Jack shrugged. “I knew you were working on the SUV. Figured I could handle it myself. But then I couldn’t find your dustpan. I tried cleaning it up myself, but, well, you see.”

“Come on,” Ianto said, pulling Jack into the Hub by his wrists.

“Really, Ianto. Manhandling me? This is so unlike you,” Jack said as they walked.

Ianto stopped dead in his tracks and turned to look at Jack. He breathed a sigh of relief when Jack just smiled at him. Jack had been flirting, not warning Ianto that he was doing something truly troublesome.

“Seems to me you tend to like a bit of handling,” Ianto said, then turned and continued walking.

“Oh, yeah,” Jack said softly, following him.

Ianto shook his head and steered Jack into the autopsy bay.

“I tried to get most of the shards out of my hand myself. That’s why they look so bad,” Jack said as Ianto directed him to the exam table.

“It looks like you tried to get them out with steel wool,” Ianto said, looking more closely at the wounds under the bright lights.

“That’s exactly what I did. And then I stopped trying and came to find you. Was that wrong?” he asked, trying for wide-eyed innocence and failing. Miserably.

“You idiot,” Ianto replied.

Jack smiled as he sat and watched Ianto gather supplies. It had been easier than he thought it would be to fall back into old habits. Over the past week, he had begun flirting with Ianto again; gently, as he had in the first weeks after Lisa’s death. No touching, because he still didn’t trust himself, but baby steps, as the saying went.

“I’m not falling for this, you know,” Ianto said as he walked back over to Jack.

“Falling for what?” Jack asked, slipping out of his braces and unbuttoning his shirt.

“That you just knocked over a bunch of mugs. What are you doing?”

“I think I got some shards in my shirt. It’s making me itchy.”

“I’m not falling for this whole distracting me with a harmless story about broken mugs so I won’t ask how you really hurt yourself,” Ianto said, eyeing Jack as he pulled off his shirts.

“Really?”

“Really. You’re still going to tell me what happened. And you’re getting those hands cleaned out with peroxide.”

Jack pouted. “What about distracting you with my half naked body?” 

Ianto raised an eyebrow and stepped between Jack’s legs. He leaned in and brushed his tongue against Jack’s mouth. Jack shuddered and pulled back quickly.

“Thought so,” Ianto said quietly, turning to pull a rolling stool up. He sat down on it and arranged Jack’s hands so they were resting palm up on his thighs.

“Ianto,” Jack sighed.

“Hmm?” Ianto said, bending his head to treat Jack’s left hand.

Jack hissed as the peroxide bubbled in the wounds.

“For a man who can’t die, you sure are a wimp when it comes to the small things,” Ianto said.

“That’s unfair. Those cuts are deep and that shit burns.”

“Yes. They are deep. Too deep to have come from merely picking up pieces of ceramic.” He looked up at Jack. “You want to tell me what really happened?”

“No.”

Ianto shrugged and began wrapping a bandage over Jack’s hand. “Did you fall asleep and have a nightmare?”

Jack sighed. “No.”

“A flashback, then,” he said, lifting Jack’s bandaged hand to his mouth and placing a gentle kiss on it.

Jack whimpered softly.

Ianto turned his attention to Jack’s other hand.

“What brought it on?” he asked softly.

“Nothing.”

“That must be terrifying. The fact that it can just happen, no trigger.”

“Ianto, it doesn’t matter.”

“Of course it matters!” Ianto said, his furious tone completely at odds with his gentle treatment of Jack’s wounds. 

Jack sighed. “It’s no big deal. I got startled and reacted badly. End of story.”

Ianto glared up at Jack. “Look, if you want to keep up the pretense that nothing is wrong in front of the others, that’s fine with me. But don’t expect me to forget everything that happened to you. To us,” he said, cleaning the wound.

“Because of me.”

“No!” Ianto said, then took a deep breath to bite back his frustration. “Because of a megalomaniacal, psychotic alien. Do you honestly think that Torchwood wouldn’t have fought back even if you weren’t our leader? Do you think so little of us?”

“Of course not!”

“All right. There’s a start. Yes, the Master probably took a little more care with us because of you; because he wanted to break you.”

“You just made my point for me.”

Ianto sighed. “Jack, do you blame the Doctor for all the torture the Master put you through just to make him squirm?” he asked, bandaging Jack’s other hand.

“That’s different.”

“How?” Ianto asked, looking up into Jack’s eyes.

“Because the Doctor is…and I’m…” Jack faltered. “Damn it, Ianto,” he finished softly.

“Jack, please let me help.”

“You have. See? All better,” Jack said, holding up his hands and smiling.

Ianto stood up and took Jack’s face in his hands. He watched Jack fight down the urge to flinch from the caress. “Now let me help with the important things.”

“I can’t, Ianto. You saw what I did to my hands and that was just from being startled. Imagine what I could do to you if I suddenly snapped,” he pleaded.

“The only way you’re going to snap is if you keep pushing it away and denying what happened to you.”

Jack pulled out of Ianto’s hands. “I’m not denying it, Ianto. I know what happened. Every single second of torture. All I’m trying to do is get past it,” he said coldly.

Ianto saw the anguish in Jack’s eyes and relented. “Jack, I just want to help. If you keep going on like this, sooner or later something’s going to happen in front of the others. Tosh and Gwen are already curious; even Owen’s noticed something’s up.”

“Gwen and Tosh think we had a lovers’ quarrel. And Owen could care less.”

“Owen’s not as uncaring as you think.”

“Really?”

“He’s cornered me quite a few times and asked me if I know what’s wrong with you.”

“I’ll have to give him more work.”

“Please, don’t. That’ll just cause more clean-up work for me,” Ianto said, smiling.

Jack returned the smile, having missed seeing that expression on the Welshman’s face.

“Take it easy tonight with your hands. I’ll check them again in the morning. And come up with a cover story that’s convincing,” Ianto said, emphasizing the last word.

Jack nodded.

“Would you…” Ianto paused, unsure how to word his question.

Jack stared at him.

“Would you like something to help you sleep?”

Jack’s expression became apprehensive and puzzled.

“A sedative, Jack. I think Owen may have some of those Harkness-recipe sedatives perfected.”

“Harkness-recipe?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Right, you didn’t know about that. It’s what Owen’s been working on to keep himself busy lately.”

“Why?”

“Well, like I said; he’s noticed something is off.”

“So he decided to drug me?”

“He wanted to help, Jack. We all know you’re sleeping less than usual and you’re looking and behaving the worse for it. Owen knows that drugs at regular strength don’t work on you, so he’s been developing a sedative that might let you get some real rest.”

“You knew and you didn’t tell me?” Jack asked, his voice more defeated than angry.

“I wouldn’t have let him give it to you, Jack. Not without your permission.”

Jack looked into Ianto’s eyes and saw the young man was serious. He understood Jack’s need for control; for consent.

Ianto smiled softly and nodded, then turned to leave.

“Ianto?”

“Yes, Jack?”

“I would like something to help me sleep.”

“All right. Give me a minute to find—”

Jack stopped him with a light touch to his shoulder. “Stay.”

Ianto turned to face him. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. Just to help me sleep. Just to be there for me.”

“All right, then. I’ll get everything shut down for the night, then meet you in your quarters.”

Jack nodded.

Ianto smiled and squeezed Jack’s shoulder before disappearing into the Hub.


	19. The Nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jack (inadvertantly) lets Ianto into his nightmare. Angst and comfort ensue. And we find out what "technically" means.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Warning:** The nightmare is about the Year of Hell That Never Was, so there is torture and violence.

Ianto carefully descended the ladder into Jack’s quarters. The small light on the bedside table was on, casting the small room in a soft golden light. Jack was lying in bed, the covers pulled up just above his navel. Despite the fact that he was most likely naked in the comfortable bed (which Ianto had helped him find), Jack looked far more wary than Ianto had ever seen him.

Ianto smiled softly at him as he unbuttoned his shirt and slid it off, draping it over the arm of the chair. He held Jack’s gaze the entire time, determined to stop undressing the moment Jack showed any sign—outward or psychically—of tensing up.

Jack watched as Ianto slowly disrobed. Disrobed…he had always liked that word and it was the most accurate description of what Ianto was doing; more unintentionally sensual than a striptease and more intimate than simply shedding his clothes. Jack loved watching him move, the natural grace with which Ianto bared his body to him. His pale, muscular, warm body.

Jack’s expression froze as Ianto stood wearing only his boxers. Ianto knew he was remembering the marks on his hips. He smiled again and walked toward the bed. He reached out and turned the bedside light off, plunging the room into blue-hued darkness. Then he climbed under the sheets and laid on his side, just inches away from Jack. When Jack didn’t move, Ianto reached out and gently placed his hand on Jack’s stomach.

Jack rolled his head on the pillow and looked at Ianto. “I’ve only slept nine hours since the last time you were in this bed. Sleep, not rest. The nightmares come and nothing stops them,” he said in a hoarse whisper.

Ianto slid his hand up Jack’s torso to cup his cheek in his hand, his thumb tracing Jack’s cheekbone. “You can rest now,” he whispered.

Jack nodded and smiled, a hint of teeth flashing in the near-dark.

Ianto moved his hand and rolled over on his back, lifting his arm over his head on the pillow. Jack sighed and slid over to Ianto, resting his head on Ianto’s chest. Ianto lowered his arm, wrapping it loosely around Jack’s shoulders. Jack wrapped his arm around Ianto’s waist and threw one of his legs over Ianto’s.

“Better?” Ianto asked quietly.

Jack nodded, nuzzling into the Welshman’s neck.

“Good,” Ianto whispered.

“Ianto?” Jack asked when the silence finally got to him.

“Hmm?”

“Tell me about your wife.”

Ianto chuckled. “Ah, so not just a human teddy bear; you want a bedtime story, too.”

Jack reached out and tweaked Ianto’s nipple playfully.

“Ow!”

“Talk,” Jack ordered.

Ianto sighed. “Elle is…Elle. And yes, she is my wife. Very technically, as she would say.”

“How very technically?” Jack asked, lifting his head.

Ianto pressed a kiss to his forehead. “I’m pretty sure it’s only legal on Aucturas Prime and its satellite worlds. Oh, and their ships. They have this weird embassy-like thing about their ships. Each one carries this urn full of dirt from Aucturas Prime—makes it part of the home world.”

“I’ve heard tales about their ceremonies. Quite unusual.”

“There was a balance beam involved.”

“Really?”

Ianto ran his hand through Jack’s hair. “Some day, if you’re very good, I’ll tell you all about it. For now, go to sleep,” he said, wrapping his other arm around Jack’s waist.

Jack nuzzled into Ianto’s chest with a happy purr.

Ianto closed his eyes and reveled in the feel of Jack’s body against his; warm and heavy and relaxed.

“Ianto?”

“No more stories,” Ianto whispered, smiling.

Jack lifted himself up to look down at Ianto.

Ianto opened his eyes and met his lover’s gaze.

“Don’t let me hurt you. If they get bad, don’t let me hurt you.”

Ianto leaned up and kissed Jack, then guided his head back down to his shoulder.

“Sleep.”  
******

Jack was huddled in a ball on the floor; naked and shivering. The Master had installed special chains into the floor so Jack had no choice but to sleep on Ianto’s bloodstain. He had been sleeping on it for five months. Well, passing out from sheer exhaustion or waking after the Master had killed him. Again. But the Master never tortured him in here; he insisted that the bloodstain remain “pristine”.

Jack hadn’t had anything to eat for three days and barely any water in a week. Starvation seemed to be the Master’s new favorite ploy. It didn’t really matter to Jack; after Ianto’s death, he had lost faith. Even if, by some miracle, Martha managed to do what the Doctor had asked, managed to stop the Master and save the world, it didn’t matter. Jack didn’t have anything left; what countless deaths had failed to do the Master had done with one well-placed knife—he had killed Jack.

“It’s almost not even worth it anymore. It’s like beating a dead horse,” the Master pouted as he paced back and forth across the cell.

“Then I guess you’ll have to use that rumored vast intellect of yours to find a new way to entertain yourself,” Jack replied.

“Ah. There’s a spark of the old Freak. I had despaired of ever seeing that again. You’ve been ever so despondent since…what was his name?” he asked, kneeling down and rubbing the bloodstain with his hand.

“You should know. You tore him out of my mind,” Jack growled.

“I tore out a copy, Freak. Couldn’t take him away completely. That would make the aftermath bland. No spice,” he said, leaning in to lick Jack’s cheek.

“Do you know, Freak, that if I close my eyes and concentrate, I can still taste him. Can you?”

Jack bit back the whimper. 

“That’s what I thought. When it comes to the young ape, your walls are still weak. It’s delicious,” he whispered.

The Master sat back on his heels and watched Jack. “In fact, it’s the only thing that makes you even remotely interesting anymore. So I’ve decided to bring back a golden oldie,” he said, grinning.

Jack watched with horror as the Master pulled out a syringe. He knew without asking what was in it: a psychotropic drug that would send him into a near-comatose state. While he was there, the Master would torture him with images of Ianto. Memories and fabricated scenarios. The Master would never let him touch Ianto; he could only watch. Watch as Ianto was tortured, physically and mentally. Sexually. It would end when the Master had Jack killed, usually through a painful overdose. Jack shuddered as the images washed through him, biting back the whimpers and tears.

The Master waved the syringe in front of Jack’s face. “We don’t have to. All you have to do is tell me how this immortality of yours works. Why, whenever I ask you when you’re in a weakened state, all I see is a red rose. Or,” he said, leaning in closer, “you can tell me what Martha Jones is up to.”

“I don’t know,” Jack ground out.

The Master sighed and stood up. “I think I’ll let the boys work on you for a bit; see if they can get you to change your mind. After all, drugs lack a certain amount of panache. Can’t let the reputation slip. You understand about reputations, don’t you, Freak?”

“Go to hell.”

“Really, Freak. Do try to get a little more original for our next meeting,” he said, then walked out of the cell.

Jack grunted as “the boys”—Mutt, Lenny and Squiggy—came into the room and pulled him to his feet. They chained his arms over his head, then brought in the tray.

Jack’s chest tightened as he realized he was about to bleed where Ianto had died. He struggled against the chains, his body’s weakness making it a futile effort. 

The boys started with the whips; Jack couldn’t tear his eyes away from the sight of his blood spreading across Ianto’s…  
******

“Jack! Jack wake up!” Ianto shouted, his voice anguished.

Jack fought up out of the nightmare, hands flailing until they found the solid warmth of Ianto.

Ianto pulled Jack tightly against him, wrapping his arms around him. “Shh, you’re home. You’re safe,” he whispered, his lips against Jack’s temple.

Jack held on to Ianto, taking a few minutes to open his eyes. “Ianto,” he breathed.

“Yes.”

“Did I hurt you?”

“No.”

Jack lay in Ianto’s arms, taking deep breaths to calm himself.

“You’re trembling,” Jack said.

“It will pass,” Ianto replied softly, relaxing his grip a little.

“You said I didn’t hurt you,” Jack said, turning his head to look at Ianto.

“You didn’t. I caught you before you started moving too much.”

Jack stared at him. He saw the strain marring Ianto’s beautiful features. He pulled out of Ianto’s arms and sat up.

“You saw it, didn’t you?” he asked, his voice raw. He felt Ianto sit up beside him, their shoulders brushing.

“Yes. I know, it was rude to intrude on you like that. But it was so loud and…you won’t tell me what happened, and I want to help you. So, I peeked.”

“It was just a nightmare.”

“Based on fact.”

“Facts get twisted.”

Ianto reached out and took Jack’s face in his hands, forcing the other man to look at him. “Then tell me what was true.”

Jack leaned forward and kissed Ianto, his tongue sweeping into the younger man’s mouth when he gasped. He took Ianto’s neck in his hands, using the leverage to move Ianto’s head as he deepened the kiss.

Ianto moaned into Jack’s mouth.

Jack broke the kiss and pressed his forehead to Ianto’s. “This is true.”

Ianto nodded and then pulled back to look Jack in the eye. “And the syringe full of coma-inducing drugs?”

Jack laid back down on the bed and threw his arm over his eyes. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“I do,” Ianto replied, lying on his side, propped up on an elbow.

“It was all true, all right? The whole thing. Everything he put in my brain. All those flashes you saw? Mere glimpses of what he did to you, in my mind, day after day,” Jack said, his voice hollow as tears streamed down his cheeks.

Ianto gently pulled Jack’s arm away from his face. “I know. I could feel it.”

“Then why are you asking?” Jack demanded.

“Because I want you to get past this. I want to help.”

Jack sighed and rolled toward Ianto, wrapping his arm around his waist and cuddling into his lover’s body. “Then help me get back to sleep,” he said, closing his eyes.

Ianto took a deep breath, intending to argue. Then he felt it: contentment. Coming from Jack as he lay nestled in Ianto’s arms.

For now, it was enough.


	20. Turning Point

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Owen and Ianto go on an easy mission. Things go wrong, and then go bad once Jack and the others show up.

Jack was going to have his head for this. It was supposed to be a routine check on some anomalous spikes. Jack had had the brilliant idea to send Ianto with Owen to, “Keep him out of trouble.”

“Just curious, Ianto. Does this fit your definition of ‘out of trouble’?” Owen asked.

“No. But I was thinking it probably met your definition of ‘regular Friday night shag’,” Ianto replied.

Owen snorted. “Bondage is strictly a Thursday night thing, Ianto. You should know that.”

“I’ve found it’s more of a cobalt-blue tie and braces thing, but that’s probably just me.”

“Ugh. Overshare. Way overshare.”

Ianto smiled. Keeping his attention on their banter was dampening his need to scream in fear.

The entry into the warehouse had gone according to plan; and then Owen had stepped on a weak board and fallen through to the basement below. Once Ianto had reached the doctor and assessed that, bumps and bruises aside, he was all right, things had turned decidedly unpleasant.

The anomalous spikes had been a group of traders riding the Rift into Cardiff to steal technology to unload to other races. They had been quite displeased to find that they had landed in a time that had technology far too primitive for their liking. They had, however, taken a liking to some of the local women; sex slaves were always a booming industry. Their leader, upon finding Ianto and Owen, had decided their inventory could use a little diversity.

So now Owen and Ianto bound, back-to-back, in a small, dank room; shirtless and shoeless, not to mention without their weapons or comms. Ianto had no idea how long they’d been here or how long Jack and the others would wait before they came looking.

“These Tribbles aren’t the brightest aliens we’ve come across, you know,” Owen said.

“Tridgles.”

“What?”

“They’re Tridgles.”

“Whatever. They don’t seem entirely bright. We can outthink them,” Owen continued.

“Mm-hm,” Ianto grunted.

“Ianto, save the grab-ass for the Hub. And Jack,” Owen snapped.

“I’m trying to work these knots, you prat. So that if you manage to come up with a plan, we can put it into action.”

“Oh. Need any help?”

“Yes, tuck your thumbs into your palms.”

“Now what?”

“Have some damn patience!” Ianto hissed.

“There’s no guard on our door. I only counted four of them in the group. Easy odds; two a piece.”

“There’ll be seven of them. There’re always seven.”

“How do you know?”

“Because Torchwood One encountered them a few years ago.”

“Ah, and being a good archivist, you read the reports on the incident.”

“Something like that,” Ianto muttered. “Hah!” he yelled, pulling his left hand free.

“Good! Now do me!” Owen shouted.

“Why Owen, I didn’t know you felt that way about me,” Ianto said as he freed his other hand and worked the rope up over his shoulders.

Owen rolled his eyes as Ianto untied his hands. “You get me out of here without me being sold as a sex slave and I’ll plant a big kiss on your smart gob!”

“Thanks, I’ll pass,” Ianto said, helping him up.

“Right. Wouldn’t want to have to deal with a jealous Jack.”

“Jack doesn’t do jealousy,” Ianto replied, walking to the door.

“Right, so it was random chance he had Tosh looking up survivors of Torchwood One?”

Ianto turned to look at Owen. “How did you know that?”

“Tosh. How did you know that?”

“I know Jack,” Ianto replied, returning his attention to the lock.

“Has he said anything about where he was?”

“Do you really want to have this conversation right now?” Ianto hissed as he heard movement in the hallway.

“Good a time as any. We don’t socialize much, you and me.”

“I’m starting to remember why. Grab the chairs; we’ll surprise them when they come through the door.”

Owen nodded and dragged the chairs over to the door. Ianto took one of the chairs as Owen pressed himself against the wall beside the door.

“Right. I’ll take the first one, then you get the second guy,” Owen said.

Ianto nodded and the door swung open.

Owen checked his swing just before he crashed the chair down on Tosh’s head. The momentum carried him to the floor.

“Owen!” she said.

“Tosh!” Ianto exclaimed, tossing his own chair aside. “Where are Jack and Gwen?”

“They’ve got the aliens cornered in the front room,” she replied, helping Owen up.

“And the girls?” Owen asked.

“They’re safe, but still locked up.”

“Why?” Ianto asked, angry.

“Because we’ll have to Retcon them, Ianto,” Tosh replied patiently. She had just had this argument with Jack.

“Take us to Jack and Gwen,” Ianto said.

Tosh nodded and led the way down the corridor.

“Tosh, I don’t suppose you came across our shoes?” Owen asked as they ran toward sounds of fighting.

“No. Gwen, we’re on our way,” Tosh replied, activating her comm.

“Are they all right?” Gwen asked, her voice tense.

“Barefoot and bare-chested, but otherwise unharmed,” Tosh answered.

“Good. Hurry.”

Tosh shot a look at Owen and the three of them picked up their pace.

“I said, where the hell are they?” Jack was screaming into the face of a Tridgle he had pinned to the ground. Six others were on the floor surrounding him; three obviously the victims of Gwen’s stun gun, the other three bloody and vaguely broken-looking.

“Here!” Tosh shouted.

Jack just kept hitting the alien beneath him. “Slave trade? Slave trade? How dare you! Not on my planet, you fucker!”

“Jack, they’re here; they’re fine!” Gwen said, horrified. She had been watching him take on and pummel each of the fallen aliens. 

Ianto ran over and grabbed Jack’s arm.

Jack didn’t even register him, just threw him off and kept punching the Tridgle.

Ianto stood next to Jack and put his mouth next to Jack’s ear. “Jack! Stop it! I’m here! Everyone’s fine!” he yelled.

Jack paused and looked at Ianto, his fist still raised and covered with blood. “Ianto!”

“Yes. And Owen. We’re fine,” Ianto said, taking Jack’s free hand off the alien, letting the body fall to the floor. 

Ianto winced; Jack probably didn’t even realize he’d been beating a corpse.

“You’re all right?”

Ianto nodded.

The others slowly came forward as Ianto turned Jack around and led him to them.

“Owen, you should take Jack back to the Hub. Check out his hands,” Gwen said softly.

“I’m still in charge of this team!” Jack snapped.

“Not right now, you’re not!” Gwen snapped back. “You completely came apart over there!”

“Well I’m sorry if selling humans as sex slaves offends me!” he shouted.

“You didn’t have to kill them!” 

“They’re not all dead,” Jack growled.

“Jack,” Ianto said softly.

Jack turned to look at Ianto, running his eyes over him to see that he really was okay. He growled when he saw the rope burns on his arms, chest and wrists.

“We’re fine,” Ianto repeated. “Go with Owen. You’re bleeding.”

Jack nodded. He muttered a ‘sorry’ at Gwen as he brushed past her.

“Owen, take the SUV you and Ianto came in. The other one has Retcon and body bags; we’ll need both,” Gwen said.

Owen nodded and followed Jack out of the room.

“Tosh, take a look at that device over there. Figure out if you can make it send the aliens who are alive back.”

“All right,” Tosh replied.

“And me?” Ianto asked.

“You and I are going to start loading bodies into the SUV. Then, we’re going to administer all those girls Retcon. Once Tosh sends the aliens back through, we’ll call in an anonymous tip.”  
******

“How is he?” Ianto asked Owen three hours later. They had finally finished moving the alien bodies into the vault and he had cornered the doctor in autopsy. Tosh and Gwen had gone to the showers for fresh clothes.

“Physically, he’s the same old Jack. His hands are already beginning to show signs of healing,” the doctor replied.

“But?”

“But he didn’t say a word the entire time I was treating his hands; even when I baited him. When I was done, he thanked me and said he was going to take a shower. Haven’t seen him since.”

Ianto nodded and ran up the steps.

“Oi! Where are you going?”

“Gwen said we could go home once we were cleaned up. I’m going to go clean up,” Ianto lied beautifully.

Owen stripped off the gloves he had on and tossed them in the bin. “Then I’m going home.”

“Oh, by the way, Tosh has your shoes,” Ianto said before disappearing into the Hub.  
******

Ianto took a shower, wanting to give the others time to leave before he talked to Jack about what had happened earlier.

He dressed quickly and went to the main part of the Hub, making sure everything had been properly turned off and locked down. As usual, Owen’s station had been left logged on. Ianto signed him off and went looking for Jack.

The light in Jack’s office was on, allowing Ianto to see the hatch lid was open. He carefully climbed down the ladder.

Jack was sitting on the edge of his bed, his hands in front of him. In the dim light, Ianto couldn’t make out what he was holding. He stepped closer.

“You’re really okay?” Jack asked.

“Yep. Are you?”

Jack shrugged. “I’ve had worse days.”

Ianto moved until he was standing next to Jack. He bit back a gasp when he realized what Jack had in his hands: a large bottle of Retcon.

Ianto sat beside him. Not too close, but close enough that Jack had to acknowledge him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know it was still that bad.”

“All those girls, locked up. I just went into a rage. I didn’t even notice Gwen or Tosh or anything else.” He laughed without humor. “I even forgot about you.”

“What are you doing down here, Jack?” Ianto asked softly after the silence stretched uncomfortably long.

“Thinking,” he replied, rolling the bottle of pills between his palms.

“What if those don’t work?”

“Take enough, they should.”

Gently, moving slowly and deliberately, he put his hand over Jack’s, stilling them.

“What if they take everything?”

“Oh gods,” Jack sobbed, his hands coming up to cover his head. He snapped back quickly, flinging the bottle across the room. He jumped up off the bed.

“I have things to do,” he said, striding over to the ladder and climbing up into the Hub.

Ianto took a deep breath and folded his hands in front of his mouth. Jack was right. And there was only one person Ianto could trust to help. Only one person he could entrust Jack to.


	21. Dinner and...Other Things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack is reminded why underestimating Ianto is never a Good Idea.

“How about a story?” Ianto asked as he set a cup of coffee on Jack’s desk.

Jack looked up at him warily. “I’m sorry?”

It had been five days since Jack had beaten three aliens to death with his bare hands and then contemplated memory suicide. Neither man had said another word about that day; mainly because Jack made it clear the issue was not up for discussion. But Ianto refused to let Jack sleep alone, believing his mere presence helped Jack. To an extent, it did help; but it also began to exhaust Jack, having to keep everything wrapped up so Ianto would think he was finally healing. Several nights, Jack had waited until Ianto fell asleep and then snuck out of the bed, going up to his office to work on paperwork, or down to the firing range to work on his aim. 

Ianto made a mental note to order more ammunition.

“A story,” he repeated.

“I thought I had to be very good to get that story,” Jack said, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh, you do. But as you’ve been moderately good, I’ve decided you deserve a different story. Over dinner.”

“Dinner?”

“Yes. You and me. Tonight. Unless you have other plans?” Ianto asked, eyebrow raised.

“No, no plans. But someone should be here in the Hub, just in case—”

“Jack, we have these amazing devices we can program to alert us if something comes up.”

“Right. Of course. Dinner sounds…very nice.”

“Good. Let’s leave here around half six? That ought to give you enough time to get all your paperwork done.”

“What paperwork?”

“Ah,” Ianto said, pulling a thick file off the tray in his hands. “The paperwork from the new Prime Minister.”

“Doesn’t he know I’m not overly fond of politicians right now?”

“I did try explaining to him that we were outside the government and beyond the police, but he was rather insistent. Doesn’t want a repeat of, well, you know,” Ianto replied.

“I couldn’t bribe you to take care of this, could I?” Jack asked, Grinning.

Ianto smiled and leaned close to Jack. “No.”

Jack pouted as Ianto straightened up.

“Half six. Be ready,” Ianto said, then left Jack’s office.

Jack put the folder on the corner of his desk, intending to ignore it for at least a couple of hours.  
******

“’Night, Jack,” Gwen said from his doorway.

Jack looked up from the file he was reading and rubbed his eyes. “Good night, Gwen.”

“Owen, Tosh and I are going to meet Rhys at the pub for a drink. Do you want to join us?”

“Any other time and I just might take you up on that. But I already have plans,” he said, smiling.

“Oh. Okay, well, maybe next time, then.”

“Sounds good,” he said, his eyes lighting up as he saw Ianto walking up behind her.

Gwen smiled at him, her expression falling when she realized Ianto was behind her and that Jack was no longer looking at her.

“’Night, Ianto,” she said, walking past him.

Ianto leaned against the door frame and watched Gwen, Tosh and Owen leave through the cog door.

“You sure you wouldn’t rather go with them?” he asked, turning to face Jack.

Jack was already up and shrugging into his coat. “Absolutely sure.”

“We could join them for a pint or two, then skip out.”

“I’d rather have our date,” Jack said, reaching out to take Ianto’s hand.

Ianto smiled and squeezed Jack’s hand. “We should be going then.”

“So, where are you taking me?” Jack asked as he climbed into Ianto’s car.

“A very exclusive place. Nearly impossible to get a reservation.”

“Hmm. All this work for me.”

“You’re worth it,” Ianto said, running the backs of his fingers over Jack’s cheek.

Jack smiled and turned his head to kiss Ianto’s fingers. Since those first nights, he had gotten used to Ianto’s gentle touch again. He allowed the younger man these gentle caresses; but stopped him before any of those touches came close to passion. He just wasn’t ready to find out if he could let go without losing himself. Especially after the incident with the Tridgles.

Ianto returned the smile and pulled his hand away to start the car.

They rode in silence for a while, Jack looking out the window as Ianto drove; much too slowly for Jack’s liking.

“Um, Ianto?” Jack asked as they turned a corner.

“Yes?”

“This is the way to your flat.”

“It is,” Ianto nodded.

Jack tensed up. Dinner out in public was one thing; Ianto’s reluctance to show affection in public would have made sure the situation didn’t become too intimate. But Ianto cooking a meal for him in his flat…a flat in which they had made love and had sex numerous times; that was a whole other deal.

Ianto chuckled. “Relax, Jack. No pressure. We’ll have a nice dinner, some spirited conversation, then I’ll take you back to the Hub and drop you off with a good night kiss.”

“With or without tongue?”

“Hmm…depends on how much you compliment my cooking,” Ianto replied, then got out of the car.

Jack laughed softly and followed Ianto into his flat.

“So, what are we having?” Jack asked as Ianto opened the refrigerator.

“Lasagna,” Ianto replied, taking a large casserole pan out of the fridge. He set it on the counter and turned the oven on.

“Homemade sauce?” Jack asked, leaning on the island.

“No. I haven’t had that much time on my hands,” Ianto replied. “Glass of wine?”

“Ah, no. Water, please.”

Ianto nodded and got Jack his requested beverage, then put the lasagna in the oven and set the timer.

“Would you like to sit in the living room while we wait?” Ianto asked.

Jack weighed his options. While remaining in the kitchen brought back memories of liaisons on the island and against the counters, Ianto’s leather couch had also seen its fair share of sweaty bouts.

“Jack?”

“Yes, the living room would be fine,” Jack replied, picking up his glass of water. 

He hurried into the living room and settled himself into the comfortable armchair, leaving Ianto to sit across from him on the couch.

Ianto smiled sadly at Jack’s choice of seat. He had hoped that he wouldn’t have to do what he had planned for the rest of the evening. Jack might never forgive him for it.

“Jack, do you trust me?” Ianto asked softly, looking into Jack’s eyes.

Jack paused before answering, knowing the answer but afraid to give it.

“Yes.”

“Good. Because I trust you, Jack.”

“Ianto, I—”

“Shut up, Jack,” Ianto said firmly but without sting.

Jack snapped his mouth shut and sat back in the chair.

“I trust you, Jack. And I love you. I want to help you, but you won’t let me.”

“You do help, Ianto. I wouldn’t have made it—”

Ianto raised his eyebrow.

“Right. Shutting up now.”

“You need help, Jack. Please, let me find a way to help you.”

Jack waited for Ianto to say more. After a few moments, he realized Ianto was now waiting for him to speak.

“No shrinks.”

“No shrinks. No one from within Torchwood,” Ianto agreed.

“Which takes us back to just the two of us,” Jack said, confused.

“Not quite.”

“You already found a way to help,” Jack realized.

“Yes.”

“Then why bother asking permission?” Jack said, standing. He began to pace, agitated.

“I thought it was something you would appreciate. A choice.”

Jack paused and looked at him. “And if I had refused?”

“Then I would have had to ask for forgiveness later,” Ianto said, standing.

“I’m not very good with forgiveness.”

Ianto put his hands on Jack’s shoulders. “I was willing to take my chances.”

Jack laughed softly. “You’re far braver than anyone gives you credit for. And sneakier.”

“Jones family traits, I’m afraid.”

Jack rested his hands on Ianto’s hips. “So, this help. When does it start?”

“Tonight.”

“You’re going to cure me with homemade lasagna?”

Ianto winced. “Actually, I didn’t really turn the oven on. Dinner was, well…”

“Bait?”

“Yes. Trust me, you won’t want to do this on a full stomach.”

“All right. Let’s get this over and done with.”

Ianto nodded and let go of Jack. He turned and headed out of the room.

“Ianto?”

He paused and turned back to face Jack.

“What you said…about how you feel about me?”

“I love you, Jack. I just wanted you to know. I don’t—”

Jack held up his hand to stop him. “It helps to hear it.”

Ianto blushed and nodded, then disappeared into the hallway.

Jack swallowed the lump in his throat, then followed him.  
******

“This is Elle’s house,” Jack said as Ianto pulled up to the curb.

“Yes.”

“But I thought—”

“Go on up. She’s expecting you,” Ianto said, cutting him off.

“Ianto, I’m not sure spilling my guts to your technical wife is going to help.”

“Jack, Elle ran Torchwood One’s Secure Archives division for six years. She was the youngest department head in Torchwood history. If anyone can help you deal with this, she can.”

“But—”

Ianto reached out and cupped Jack’s cheek. “She can help you, Jack. Anything you say to her stays between the two of you.”

Jack took a deep breath and nodded. Then he reached out and opened his door.

“Jack, if you feel like talking after, I’ll be up.”

Jack nodded, then got out of the car.

Ianto waited until Jack knocked on the door to drive away.  
******

“I honestly didn’t think you would come the first time he asked. I underestimated him. Or you,” Elle said as she let Jack into her home. Once inside, he watched her engage the numerous locks on her door, as well as an alarm system he knew Tosh would love to get her hands on.

“I would have thought, with your history, that you’d know better than to underestimate Ianto,” Jack replied.

Elle smiled, her hands on her hips. “Yeah, but of the two of us, you’ve fallen for him more recently.”

“Ianto and I—”

Elle held up a hand. “I meant you fell for one of his plots. Anything else is not appropriate conversation right now.”

“All right. So what is?” Jack asked, rocking back on his heels.

“Boundaries,” she said, turning to walk down the hallway.

Jack followed her. “Boundaries?”

“Ianto told me you’d been held prisoner and tortured, so I’m guessing any type of restraints are out of the question.”

“What?” Jack asked, shocked.

She paused at a door and opened it. “You’ll find a change of clothes in here for you; something a little more comfortable. They should be the right size; Ianto picked them out. Once you’ve changed, go through the door at the end of the hall. It leads to the basement.”

“And then?”

“And then, Captain Jack Harkness, you and I are going to do our very best to beat the ever-loving shit out of each other,” she said, her smile turning predatory.


	22. Poking the Bear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack and Elle try to work through some of Jack's issues. Things do not go smoothly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is **much** violence in this chapter. And a scary and possibly traumatic cliffhanger.

“I’m sorry?” Jack asked.

“There’s nothing wrong with your hearing, Jack. You heard me. Get changed and I’ll meet you downstairs.”

With that, she turned on her heel and walked to the door at the end of the hall and went through it.

Jack paused for a moment, wondering if he should just get the hell out of Dodge. But he had told Ianto he would try; if that meant sparring with Elle for a few hours so he could reassure Ianto, so be it.

He quickly changed into the sweats and t-shirt Elle had left out for him. He had a brief debate over just going downstairs in his regular clothes; he was used to fighting in them, after all. But he thought it would be bad form to ask Ianto to take his clothes to the cleaners to get his wife’s blood out of them.

Once he was changed and in bare feet, he followed Elle’s directions to the stairs. He went down the stairs and opened the door at the bottom. He went through and the door closed solidly behind him.

Soundproofed, Jack thought.

He looked around. He was standing on a thick mat that extended to the other side of the large room and to the wall to his right, but ended about eight feet to his left. The part of the room he was in was well-lit, but the far end was in complete darkness. He presumed the weapons Ianto and Elle had used in their fight were down that way.

“Elle?” he called out.

“Took you long enough,” she said, walking out of the darkness. She was dressed in the dark yoga pants and tank top she had been wearing when she opened her door to him. Her feet were bare, like his own.

“Well, I had a lot of layers to get out of,” Jack shrugged.

She smiled.

“So, uh, how do you want to—”

He was cut off as a left hook landed squarely against his jaw.

“All right,” he muttered, regaining his balance.

“Come on, Jack. I did say we would beat the shit out of each other.”

“I thought we’d set some ground rules,” he said, dodging a kick.

“No restraints. No weapons. Let’s go.”

They danced around each other, Elle going full bore in her swings and kicks; Jack spending most of his time dodging her blows and delivering light taps.

Elle bounded back and stood still. “Don’t make me piss you off.”

“What?”

“Fight like you mean it or I’m going to have to play dirty. You don’t want me to play dirty.”

“Oh?”

“I worked for Yvonne Hartmann. Torchwood One taught me several different types of dirty.”

“Oh, I think I can handle Torchwood One’s dirty tactics.”

“Really?” she asked, then lunged at him.

Jack deflected the kick, but the punch to his stomach landed soundly.

“Come on, Jack,” she hissed in his ear as he doubled over.

Jack put his hands on her shoulders and shoved her away, sending her stumbling back several feet. She easily regained her footing.

“Better,” she said.

They fought more aggressively for several minutes, Jack actually taking the initiative and landing a few blows. But Elle could tell he was holding back.

“Fine,” she said, jumping back up to her feet after Jack had flipped her over his back.

“Fine. Does that mean we’re done?”

“We’ve barely broken a sweat.”

“There are more enjoyable ways of breaking a sweat,” he Grinned.

“Oh, I’m enjoying myself just fine, Jack. Problem is, this isn’t about enjoyment.”

“It’s not?” Jack asked, dodging an uppercut and elbowing her in the chest.

“No.”

“What’s this about, then?”

“You. And all that rage and fear you’ve got bottled up,” she said, sweeping his legs out from under him.

He rolled away before she could pounce on him.

“What was your first thought when Ianto told you I was his wife?” she asked.

“Shock,” he said, taking an unrefined, but powerful, swing at her. She ducked and he clipped her shoulder.

“Not jealousy? Don’t you care enough to be jealous that there’s someone else’s bed he finds just as comfortable as yours?”

Jack knocked her back with a right cross to her cheek.

“He said it wasn’t a real marriage. Besides, sometimes it’s better with three,” he said.

She laughed. “What makes you think I’d share him?” she said, landing a sharp kick to his thigh.

“I’d say being shared is up to Ianto.”

“If you asked, he probably would. He’s that stupid over you.”

Jack grabbed her arm and spun her around, slamming her into the wall. She dropped down into a ball and rolled back between his legs, popping up behind him.

“Okay, so calling Ianto stupid gets a reaction. What else? Hmm…how about your woeful abilities as a leader?”

They sparred for another hour, Elle going over everything that had happened under Jack’s command during the previous year. Jack got angrier with every sentence, his blows landing with increasing force and accuracy.

After he threw her into the wall the second time, Elle decided to go in for the kill.

“I saw Ianto’s hips. Haven’t quite been able to bring yourself to control your passion, eh?” she finally asked. “Doesn’t surprise me. From what Ianto’s said, you’re not one for control. Or thinking of the consequences of your actions.”

Jack flinched and jumped back from her.

“However, I do admire your restraint, Jack. Denying sex with Ianto is difficult. I should know. I mean, that body. So supple and strong.”

Jack gritted his teeth and kicked her in the stomach. She grabbed his ankle and flipped him onto his stomach.

“I mean, honestly, he’s definitely one of the best lays I’ve ever had,” she said as she sat down on his back. She leaned forward to whisper in his ear. “And that thing he does to your ear with his tongue? He didn’t learn that from Lisa.”

She sprang off his back a moment before he shot to his feet, growling.

Jack could barely concentrate through the rage in his mind. He was vaguely aware he had kept it under control for a while now, but he was close to giving in to it.

She continued to egg him on with taunts about Ianto’s sexual prowess as Jack stalked her, his punches becoming more fierce.

“Did you really think the only other tail he could get was a robot?” she asked.

“Stop talking about him!” Jack shouted.

“It’s just sex, Jack. You, more than anyone else, should understand that sometimes, it’s just fucking.”

“Not with Ianto.”

“Are you sure? I mean, are you afraid to try because you’ve realized that’s all it is between you? Are you afraid he’ll be able to tell?”

He punched her in the face, then the stomach, then threw her to the ground. 

She laughed at him as she stood up.

“Tell me, Jack. Has he ever made love to you under a mirror? So you can look up and watch the muscles in his back move as he takes you? See the way his neck moves as he buries his face against your throat and empties himself into you?”

Jack’s eyes darkened.

“Well, if you can ever get up the, um, guts to fuck him again, you should try it.”

Before he realized he had moved, he had his hands around her neck.

“That is, if he even wants you to fuck him any more,” she said.

Jack snarled and twisted his wrists. 

The sound of her neck breaking brought him out of his haze.


	23. Better Than He Was

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack deals with the aftermath of his actions in _Poking the Bear_.

_Oh gods,_ Jack thought. 

He stared down at Elle’s body. He hadn’t even thought about it; it had been pure reflex.

He had killed Elle. Fuck, he had _KILLED_ Elle.

Damn it, he had known this was a bad idea. The physical contact of the fight had been bad enough, but when she had started provoking his demons, he should have stopped her. Especially when she started talking about Ianto. He should have made her stop.

_You did make her stop_ , that snarling, seductive voice in his head said.

“Oh gods,” he gasped, running his hands through his hair. What was he going to do? How could he explain this to Ianto? 

_This is Ianto’s fault_ , the voice taunted. _He should have known better. Or maybe he did and he wanted you to snap._

“No!” Jack shouted, shaking his head to dispel the cackling voice.

“Feel better now?”

The voice wafted out of the darkness as Jack stood breathless, staring down at Elle’s body.

His head snapped up, eyes narrowing to peer into the shadows at the other end of the room.

Elle walked out of the shadows to stand at the head of the fallen woman. 

“Amazing, isn’t she?” she asked.

“What?” he asked, thinking he must have finally, fully and well snapped the tether. She couldn’t be standing by her own corpse, could she? He had thought he knew what insanity would feel like—this was much more…disconnected than he had expected it to be.

She—the standing one—smiled. “At Torchwood London, we called her the Buffybot. Don’t ask me why.”

A robot.

Relief and a touch of anger washed through him. “Amazing tech,” he finally agreed. His eyes were still wide, his expression haunted.

She smiled sadly at him. “Sorry about the subterfuge. I needed you to let go, no holds barred. And I had to find out what buttons to push to do that without actually getting killed.”

“Torchwood London’s dirty tricks.”

She nodded slowly. “Come on, I think you’ve had enough for one night. Let’s get you cleaned up and I’ll make some coffee. It’s nowhere near as good as Ian—”

“You wouldn’t have anything stronger, would you?” he asked, cutting her off.

“I thought you didn’t drink.”

“Only on special occasions. This counts.”

She nodded and he followed her upstairs.  
******

Jack had taken a long shower in the bathroom off her spare bedroom, then changed back into his clothes. Now, they were sitting in her living room, on opposite ends of the large couch. On the coffee table in front of them stood a large bottle of particularly good single-malt scotch. They each held a tumbler in their hands. Jack rolled his glass between his palms for several minutes before he finally grew edgy enough under her measured gaze to speak.

“How did you manage to steal a robot from Torchwood London?” Jack asked her.

“She is not just a robot,” Elle said indignantly. “She is Torchwood London’s cybernetic masterpiece. They scavenged the hardware and software from a downed craft several years ago, but Archives didn’t quite know what to do with it. Once I had authority, I requisitioned it for Secure Archives, then turned it over to Ianto and Kerrie.”

“Kerrie?”

“Kerrie Joplin. A technological whiz who puts your Toshiko to shame. You would like her. Wicked smart and a sense of humor to match. She didn’t quite fit in with Torchwood, but Yvonne wouldn’t let anyone else have her. Kerrie used to put magenta streaks in her hair just to piss Yvonne off. Looked like a My Little Pony,” she said, smiling fondly at the memory.

“Sounds like my kind of girl.”

Elle laughed. “Anyway, Ianto decoded the software and Kerrie applied her impressive intellect and intuition into making the Buffybot work; appropriating some tech from Archives, of course.”

“Of course,” Jack said, quite familiar with One’s habit of requisitioning technology—and people—from other departments and Torchwoods.

“We then expanded on some research pioneered at Four to create the outer shell. Looks and feels completely human. As soon as she saw the Bot in action, Yvonne wanted us to build an entire army. I guess she never saw The Terminator,” Elle shrugged, taking a sip of her drink.

Jack gave her a puzzled look.

Elle sighed. “Ianto said you weren’t up on pop culture, but that’s ridiculous.”

“Sorry, haven’t had much time to get out to the movies.”

“In more than a hundred years? Find the time, Jack. Take Ianto out for dinner and a movie.”

Jack noticeably tensed.

“O-kay. Not ready for that topic yet.”

Jack took a long swallow of his scotch, then reached for the bottle to refill his glass.

“A few days after the demo, all our research was lost. Yvonne thought Four had left behind spies that hacked our systems for their own ends,” Elle continued.

“Had they?”

Elle shrugged. “That is what Ianto and Kerrie made it look like. Officially, the project was shelved.”

“Your team kept working on it, didn’t they?”

“Ianto and Kerrie made her into what you saw in the basement. Completely reactive and able to interact, with the proper handler at the controls. And a dead ringer for me. They thought that was funny; they’re a little twisted.”

Jack laughed. “Okay, so she’s not just a robot. But you did steal her.”

“Technically, Kerrie stole her,” she said, gesturing with her glass. “When Canary Wharf started to fall, I left Kerrie to run the Bot from the basement control room. She used the Bot to buy some time for people to escape. I fought my way upstairs, to do my duty and fight against alien invaders. After the Battle, I clawed my way out of the wreckage and made my way home. The Bot was waiting for me, along with all the tech needed to keep her running, courtesy of Kerrie.”

“Is she one of the known survivors, or did she disappear off the lists as well?”

“Last I heard, she was headed for the States. Peace, tranquility and Southern Comfort,” she said, draining her glass.

“Ianto went through a lot of trouble to make you disappear. Why have you stayed so close to him? To Torchwood?”

“Ah, so we can talk about him now?” she asked, refilling her glass.

Jack shrugged.

“Ah, ah, ah. No shrugging; you have to say you want to talk about Ianto.”

“I don’t want to talk about him. I just wanted to know how you ended up in Cardiff.”

“Hmm, but that’s my story. Someday, if we have time, we’ll get to that,” she said, shaking her head.

“Everyone keeps promising me stories,” Jack muttered into his glass.

“Jack,” she said, reaching out to place a hand on his arm. “We just want to help.”

“By letting me kill you?”

“Ianto told me a little bit about the missing year, about what you went through. You can’t keep all that inside. It will destroy you.”

“I can handle it.”

She gripped his arm tightly, forcing him to look at her. “It will destroy him. Do you really want that?”

“No,” he said hoarsely.

“Good. Then let me help.”

Jack thought about it for a long moment. If this worked, maybe one day he’d be able to touch Ianto again without hurting him. Without that fear. If it gave him just one night, it would all be worth it.

“All right,” he finally said.

“Good. We can set up a schedule; you come here and you and the Bot can have at it, working through all that rage of yours. And if something comes up and you need immediate release, you can call me and I’ll make sure I’m here to help.”

“Immediate release?” Jack asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah, that sounded better in my head.”

Jack laughed shortly.

“Next time, we’ll start working on your control. Allow some of that aggression out without, you know, snapping anyone’s neck. But for now, go home. You’ve had a hell of a night.”

Jack nodded and set his glass on the coffee table.

Elle stood up and helped him into his coat, then walked him to the door. “I really am sorry about the ruse.”

“You did what you had to do. In your spot, I’d have done the same thing.”

“If you had been in my spot, you wouldn’t have needed the Bot to come back from the dead,” she said, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh, Ianto and I are going to have to have a talk about disclosure.”

“Whatever gets the two of you talking to each other,” she muttered.

Jack opened the door and stepped outside.

“Jack?”

He paused.

“You know that when I said home, I didn’t mean the Hub, right?”

“Um—”

“He’s going to be worried. And I promised not to tell him anything about what happened here.”

On impulse, Jack leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. “Thank you.”

She gave him a gentle shove. “Go. I have to go reprogram my Bot.”

“That has got to be the weirdest brush-off I’ve ever heard.”

She laughed as she closed and locked the door behind him.  
******

Ianto had baked the lasagna, then carefully packed it away in the fridge. Needing to keep his hands busy, he made a large bowl of pico de gallo. He followed that with pasta salad and half a bottle of wine.

Then he began pacing through his entire flat. Had he done the right thing, sending Jack to Elle? He knew she could handle herself; he wasn’t sure Jack could handle what she would put him through. It was too soon. He had made a mistake. What if he had made everything worse?

He sprinted for the door when he heard a familiar knock.

Jack took in Ianto’s flushed face and bare feet as the younger man opened the door.

“Cooking and then pacing?” Jack asked.

Ianto shrugged, stepping back to allow Jack entry. 

Jack walked inside and into the kitchen, throwing his coat over the back of a chair. 

Ianto joined him moments later, fingers twisting in the hem of his t-shirt.

“Are you…did she…?” He swallowed hard and started again. “How are you?” 

“Exhausted. Raw. Better than I was,” Jack replied.

“Good.”

He reached out and touched Ianto’s arm. “But I’m not back. Not yet.”

Ianto smiled and put his hand over Jack’s, entwining their fingers. “I know. Elle’s not quite that good.”

Jack matched Ianto’s smile and squeezed his fingers. “It’s a start.”

“I’m glad.”

“Ianto,” he said softly, pulling the younger man closer. “It was the right call. Thank you.”

Ianto relaxed visibly.

Jack pressed his lips against Ianto’s forehead. Elle was right; Ianto had been worried. Jack squeezed his eyes shut, angry with himself for not realizing it on his own. As usual, he was too wrapped up in his own issues to recognize what Ianto was going through.

Ianto sighed and loosely wrapped his arms around Jack’s waist.

Jack leaned into the embrace and rested his head on Ianto’s shoulder.

“Can I sleep here tonight?” he asked against Ianto’s neck.

Ianto’s arms tightened slightly. “Of course.”

“Good. I’m exhausted. Let’s go to bed.”

Ianto nodded. “Go on in, I’ll lock up and be there in a moment.”

Jack let Ianto go, then placed a soft kiss on his lips before leaving the room.

Ianto took his time locking up the flat and turning the lights off, wanting Jack to have time to settle in before he joined him. It had been a long time since Jack had been in Ianto’s bed.

He smiled softly as he entered the bedroom; Jack had carefully folded his clothes and placed them on the chest at the foot of the bed. He was curled up on what he considered his side of the bed, the bedside lamp casting a soft golden light over him.

Ianto stripped down to his boxers and turned the light off before sliding into bed beside his lover. Jack rolled closer to him and wrapped an arm around Ianto’s waist, pulling the Welshman tightly against him. He kissed Ianto softly, a gentle tangle of lip and tongue, then buried his face against Ianto’s shoulder.

“Thank you,” he whispered again before falling asleep.

Ianto bit his lip to hold back his tears and allowed himself to relax and follow Jack into sleep.


	24. A Normal Day at the Office

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After his first session with Elle, Jack returns to work. Explosions, aliens, blue goo and an injured team member are involved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, so very sorry for the lag in updates. There were two months of ISSUES with getting internet in my apartment. There were tears. It was epic.

**Chapter 24—A Normal Day at the Office**  
Ianto woke face-to-face with Jack, who was watching him with a look of slight discomfort on his face.

“What’s wrong?” Ianto asked.

Jack shifted. “I forgot how hard your mattress is.”

Ianto relaxed and smiled. “It’s not hard, it’s firm. It’s good for my back, which is good for my posture, which you thoroughly enjoy watching. And since when do you complain about something being too hard?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Jack laughed. It was an old argument; one which usually led to a conversation about the hardness of other items in the bedroom and the two of them being late for work. But as much as he wanted that, as much as he felt…lighter after working with Elle the night before, he wasn’t quite ready yet.

Ianto watched the play of emotions over Jack’s face, wondering if he knew just how readable he was in moments like this.

“Do you want the shower first?” he finally asked Jack.

“Hmm…if I say yes, does that mean you’ll start coffee while I’m in there?”

Ianto sighed. “I knew it. You only wanted to stay the night so you could have coffee as soon as you woke up.”

Jack smiled and nuzzled into Ianto’s chest. “Is that a no?”

“If you use up all the hot water, I’m pouring the coffee down the drain,” he replied, then kissed the top of Jack’s head.

“That’s abuse,” Jack replied.

Ianto laughed and untangled himself from Jack. He got up and made his way to the door, thinking he would probably have time to start breakfast; Jack took notoriously long showers, with or without Ianto’s presence.

“Ianto?” Jack asked.

Ianto turned toward him.

“This is nice. We should do it more often.”

Ianto nodded. “We will.”  
******

Owen was waiting for them when they reached the Hub.

“Oh gods, it’s the apocalypse,” Ianto breathed. Owen never beat him into the Hub.

“Shut it, Ianto,” Owen replied.

“Something crawl up somewhere uncomfortable, Owen?” Jack asked.

“The Rift warning system,” Owen said.

“Beg pardon?” Jack asked.

“Something came through the Rift early this morning and I got the wake-up call!”

“Gee, I thought you’d be glad that I trust you enough to have you listed as my second in command again,” Jack said, shooting a look at Ianto, who merely smiled and walked away to make coffee.

“That’s why thinking’s not always your strong suit, Harkness,” Owen muttered as the cog door opened again.

“What’s going on?” Tosh asked as she hurried to her computer.

“Yeah, Owen’s call made it sound like the end of the world,” Gwen added, joining Jack and Owen.

“Apparently, some Rift activity woke him up early,” Jack replied.

“Here it is. It’s an abandoned machinist shop,” Tosh said.

Jack, Owen and Gwen moved to join Tosh at her station.

“What have we got, Tosh?” Jack asked.

“Looks like four life forms. Two are staying put and two have gone wandering,” she replied.

“Okay, let’s get moving. Tosh, you stay here and keep feeding us information. Gwen, Owen, grab your gear and meet me at the SUV. I’ll go get Ianto,” Jack said, standing up straight.

“Already here, sir,” Ianto said, appearing at his elbow with a thermos of coffee.

Jack nodded and he and Ianto followed Gwen and Owen toward the garage.

“So, those amazing devices that can be programmed to alert us if something happens with the Rift?” Jack whispered.

“Can also be programmed to forward the calls to Owen’s mobile,” Ianto replied.

“One of these days, Ianto Jones, I’m going to stop underestimating you,” Jack said as they joined Gwen and Owen at the SUV.

Ianto smiled at him.

Owen rolled his eyes at Gwen. She elbowed him in the ribs To Owen’s surprise, Ianto climbed into the back with Gwen, allowing Owen to ride beside Jack.

Jack pouted at Ianto in the rearview mirror before starting the SUV.

“Tosh, can you give me any biological data on these things?” Jack asked.

“I can do better than that,” she replied, a smile evident in her voice. “Sending CCTV footage to you now.”

“What the hell?” Gwen asked, leaning forward to look at the monitor.

“Are those…tusks?” Ianto asked.

“Tusks?” Owen asked. “Shit. Once, just once, why can’t it be robot prostitutes from the future?”  
******

“What happened to you?” Tosh asked as Owen and Gwen came through the cog door.

“Tusks AND they bleed blue!” Owen growled, storming to autopsy.

Tosh looked at Gwen with wide eyes.

“Jack took out the last of the tusk-things with this huge gun I’ve never seen before. Owen was uncomfortably close to the-erm-explosion,” Gwen replied.

“Oh. And you?”

“I was uncomfortably close to Owen.”

“I see.”

“We were both trying to distract the…thing,” Gwen explained.

“Of course,” Tosh said, smiling. It was funny to watch Gwen try to explain herself when, really, no explanation was needed.

“I’m going to go get a shower. Jack and Ianto should be right behind us with the bodies,” Gwen said.

“But you said there was exploding.”

“Just the last one. One of them used its, oh what did Jack call them? Ah, sonic surfboards to return to its home. Ianto and I managed to bring the other two down.”

“Oh.”

“Tell Jack I’ll start my report as soon as I’m not covered in blue goo anymore,” Gwen said, heading for the showers, holding her side.

Twenty minutes later, the bodies were in Autopsy’s cold storage drawers.

“Aren’t you going to start right away?” Jack asked Owen as the doctor walked out of Autopsy.

“I’m going to get cleaned up first. All these dried extraterrestrial guts are starting to itch,” Owen replied.

“Speaking of alien guts, where’s Gwen?” Jack asked, looking around.

“She said she was going to get a shower,” Tosh replied.

“How long ago?”

“Before you brought the first body up.”

“I’ll check on her. I’m heading there anyway,” Owen said, brushing past them.

Ianto saw the worried look on Jack’s face moments before the older man followed Owen.

“Really, Jack, I can check on her alone,” Owen said as Jack caught up to him.

“Extra pair of eyes can’t hurt,” Jack replied.

Owen snorted. “Not sure Rhys would appreciate your eyes.”

“Or yours.”

“Over and done with, mate.”

“Good,” Jack said, pushing ahead of Owen to enter the large employee bathrooms first.

Gwen was passed out on the floor, dressed only in her jeans and bra.

“Gwen!” Jack shouted, rushing to her side.

“Damn it,” Owen said as he searched for a pulse. “She’s alive, Jack. We need to get her upstairs to medical.”

Jack nodded and lifted Gwen into his arms, then took off running.

“What happened?” Ianto asked as Jack laid Gwen on the examination table.

“Looks like she took a tusk to her left side,” Owen said, gently shoving Jack out of the way. 

“Gwen! Gwen, wake up for us, love,” Jack said as Owen began to clean her wound.

“Jack?” she murmured.

Jack took her hand. “Right here. Why didn’t you tell us you were hurt?”

“Just…a bruise,” she whispered.

“Scored you right open, Gwen. You’ve lost a lot of blood,” Owen replied.

“Hurts,” she said.

Jack looked up at Owen. “Can you give her something?”

“Tosh, give her some morphine. Standard dosage. Ianto, get a pint of Gwen’s blood out of the refrigerator,” Owen replied.

Tosh and Ianto hurried to do Owen’s bidding as he set up an IV line for the blood. Then he returned to stitching up Gwen’s wound.

Half an hour later, Gwen was safely ensconced on the table, with blankets and orders not to move more than an inch without supervision. Owen had showered and was finally performing his first autopsy, with one eye on the computer displaying Gwen’s vitals. Tosh was working on the report and taking frequent breaks to check on Gwen. Ianto had made coffee for everyone except Gwen, whom he gave warm milk and some of his secret stash of dark chocolate.

Jack was hiding in his office.

After putting it off for another hour, Ianto finally ventured up to the office. He entered without knocking.

Silently, he placed the cup of coffee on Jack’s desk.

“Thank you,” Jack said, trying to appear completely enthralled by the report in front of him.

“How are you?” Ianto asked.

“It’s a dangerous job, Ianto. There are going to be injuries,” he replied without looking up.

Ianto nodded and sat on the edge of the desk. “How are you?”

“Rather pissed. Edgy.”

“Do you want to hit something?”

Jack looked up at Ianto. “Gods, yes.”

Ianto put his hand on Jack’s arm and squeezed. “I’ll call Elle, tell her to expect you tonight.”

“Thank you.”

Ianto smiled and stood up, heading for the door.

“Ianto?”

“Yes, sir?”

Jack smiled. “Does this seem normal to you?”

“Yes, sir. Just a normal day at the office.”

Jack sighed. “Good. I thought I was going off again.”


	25. Getting Creative

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After nearly three weeks of sessions, Elle suggests Jack try something…different in his recovery process.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As an apology for the lag in updates, I'm going to burn through and finish post ing Part I of this fic tonight.

**Chapter 25—Getting Creative**   
“I will give you a hundred dollars if you will crawl over and get us water,” Jack said, his head tilted back against the wall.

“I won’t tell Ianto you asked me to crawl across the floor so you could ogle my arse if you get the water,” Elle replied.

They were sitting side-by-side on the mat in her basement, both exhausted and covered with sweat.

“Ah,” Jack said, lifting a hand and waving a finger at her, “but Ianto said the two of you wouldn’t talk about what you and I did here.”

She rolled her head against the wall to look at him. “You’re going to deny me water on a technicality?”

“Technical seems to be the key word for the two of you,” he replied.

Elle laughed. “Don’t suppose telekinesis is included along with those 51st-century pheromones?”

“Nope.”

“What the hell good is evolution, then?” she said.

Jack laughed and crawled over to where she had left the bottled water.

“Ah, that’s what Ianto sees in you,” she laughed, tilting her head to watch his arse as he crawled.

Jack smirked at her, then tossed a bottle of water to her and crawled back to sit by her. He had been seeing her regularly for these sessions for almost three weeks. When he had had a bad day, he worked with the Bot. On days like this, when he wanted to work on maintaining his control while fighting, he worked with Elle. He had been pleasantly surprised at her skill level—both physically and psychologically—then realized he shouldn’t have been; whatever else Yvonne Hartman was, she knew talent when she saw it and she honed it to a razor edge.

“Feel better?” she asked after he had taken a long pull from his bottle.

“Mmm…much. These were a good idea,” he said, nudging the wooden staff in front of him with his bare foot.

She shrugged. “Well, they were your idea. I’ve never seen anyone’s eyes light up like that.”

“I find that hard to believe.”

“I’ve never seen anyone’s eyes light up like that upon seeing the weapons locker,” she amended, then took a drink of her water.

Jack had been wary when Elle had suggested they try getting creative. Then she had shown him the weapons locker. He had immediately been drawn to the quarterstaffs; he hadn’t known anyone in decades who could adequately fight with one. He had quickly discovered Elle was more than adequate. 

“I’ve got to hand it to you, Jack. You sure are able to handle a huge staff.”

“Well, it’s kind of a requirement for dating Ianto.”

Elle choked on her water. “Ah, so you’re dating,” she said when she recovered.

“I think so,” Jack replied. He thought of the long talks over shared dinners, the occasional night spent curled up in Ianto’s bed, the soft brushes of fingers and hands during the day, and the soft, longing kisses when they parted at night or woke in the morning. He was pretty sure that was dating.

“Has he let you get to second base yet?”

Jack tilted his head to the side. “I’m not sure. What constitutes second base in this century?”

“Hell, I don’t know. It’s been so long since I was on a date I forget who gets tied up first.”

They looked at each other.

“Ianto,” they said in unison.

“Oh, he’d kill us for that,” Jack said when they stopped laughing.

“I think he’d let you make it up to him,” she said, raising an eyebrow on him.

“Word to the wise: the Eyebrow only works if you’re Ianto.”

Elle sighed and tilted her head back against the wall. “Jack, I want you to try something for me for our next session.”

“What’s that?”

“Have it with Ianto.”

Jack choked on his water.

Elle reached out and gave him a smack on the back.

“You want me to have sex with Ianto?” he gasped, looking at her.

“When I said ‘it’, I meant the session. You should have your _session_ with Ianto. Although it is interesting that you immediately went to sex. _Are_ you and he…?”

“No,” he said, leaning back and closing his eyes. “There’s a level of trust involved. I’m not there yet.”

“That’s why you should have the session with Ianto,” she said, standing up.

Jack gave her a puzzled look.

“You’ve got to start working on trusting yourself with him.”

“Yes, beating him up seems like a fantastic idea,” he said sardonically.

She sighed as she picked up the quarterstaffs. “Jack, did you ever physically harm Ianto during that Year?”

“He was harmed because of me.”

“That wasn’t the question,” she said, putting the weapons away and locking the cabinet.

“No. I never laid a hand on him.”

“Okay, then. If you can keep a tether on your rage fighting with me, a total stranger who intentionally provokes you with the most personal and awful taunts, then you should be able to keep it with someone you love.”

Jack stood up, unwilling to answer her.

She sighed and started up the stairs. “One of these days, I’m going to find the right thing to smack you in the head with to knock some sense into you.”

“Point taken,” he said as he followed her upstairs.

“Jack, what you and I do here is just starting the process. Sooner or later, you’re going to have to let him help. He wants to help. He _needs_ to help you.”

“I know.”

“So let him. If it gets too close, then back off. Call it a night and hit the showers. You’ve done that with me,” she argued.

“I’ll think about it,” he said, reaching into the closet for his coat and shoes.

“Good. But you should know I already mentioned it to Ianto.”

“I could hurt him,” Jack said, pausing as he tied his boots, his jaw tight.

“Ianto’s not an idiot, Jack. He knows what to look for. And if he has to, he won’t hesitate to kill you to save himself.”

“That’s comforting.”

Elle sighed. “Just trust me on this one, okay? I even promise not to say ‘I told you so’ when it works.”

Jack shrugged into his coat. “All right. On one condition.”

“What’s that?” she asked as he opened the door.

“The no-I-told-you-so proviso covers the dance, too.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “How do you know about the dance?”

“Ianto and I have been doing a lot of talking,” he said, then leaned forward to kiss her on the cheek. “Ciao.”

She closed the door behind him and leaned back against it, smiling. Then she went over to her phone and dialed.

“Hello?”

“I’m going to kill you,” she said.

“Oh? And why is that?” Ianto asked, laughing.

“Jack knows about the I-told-you-so dance.”

“I only told him out of self-preservation.”

“Oh?”

“He was threatening to attempt making coffee. With _my_ coffeemaker.”

“You are so weak,” she said.

“When it comes to Jack in my kitchen? Absolutely. How did it go?”

“Well. I told him to try a session with you.”

“Do you think he’s ready?”

“No, Ianto. I want him to kill you.”

“Sorry, stupid question.”

“You’re forgiven,” she said, locking her door.

“Does it help that I could feel you smacking me upside the back of the head?”

“Little bit, yeah.”

He laughed. “Thank you, Elle.”

“Any time,” she replied, then hung up.


	26. Not That Easy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jack thinks this is a really bad idea and Ianto is just getting warmed up.

**Chapter 26—Not That Easy**   
Jack sighed as he watched Ianto walk into the training room. The younger man was wearing sweats and a worn blue t-shirt. His feet were bare; Jack tried to push back the memories of the last time he had looked at Ianto’s bare feet.

“This is a really bad idea,” Jack said.

“Elle wouldn’t have suggested it if she thought we couldn’t handle it,” Ianto replied calmly.

“Have the others gone?”

Ianto nodded. “Gwen was her usual worried self and demanded she be allowed to stay and chaperone. I persuaded her that it wasn’t necessary.”

“Persuaded?”

“I threatened to call Rhys and tell him she was staying here when she needn’t. She called me a rather nasty name,” he said as he walked over to join Jack.

Jack laughed, a true, joyful expression. “And Owen and Tosh?”

“Ah. Owen said he wouldn’t be coming in to patch anyone up. Tosh said she would.”

Jack grinned. “Good girl.”

“I wouldn’t get too excited if I were you. Tosh doesn’t believe in the need for anesthetics for stitches.”

“Do I want to know how you know that?”

“Probably not,” Ianto said, nodding.

They stood staring at each other for a few moments.

“So…how do you want to work this?” Ianto finally asked.

“How about not at all?” Jack suggested, his voice hoarse.

Ianto sighed. “Do you miss touching me, Jack?”

“I touch you, Ianto.”

“A brush of the hand here, a kiss there. Just like it was back in the beginning. Is that what you want?”

“Yes,” Jack whispered, not meeting his eyes.

“You don’t want more?”

“I can’t.”

“That wasn’t the question, Jack,” Ianto said, stepping closer.

“Ianto, please…”

“Because I do. I want more, Jack. But if you can’t—if you don’t want me anymore, then tell me. Tell me and I’ll walk out of here and we’ll never have to speak of this again,” Ianto said quietly, his mouth a mere breath from Jack’s.

“I want what I can’t have,” Jack breathed.

“You can have it,” Ianto whispered, then kissed him.

Jack whimpered in the back of his throat as his lips parted beneath Ianto’s questing tongue. He tried to hold back, to not respond to the passion of his lover’s touch. But the aches of more than a year and the denial of too many nights were too much for him. He snaked one arm around Ianto’s waist and buried his other hand in Ianto’s hair, holding the younger man’s mouth against his.

Ianto growled into Jack’s mouth and gripped Jack’s hips as he deepened the kiss. He walked forward, moving them until he had Jack pressed up against the wall. 

Jack gasped as the cold from the stones seeped through the fabric of his shirt. He pushed Ianto away.

“No,” he gasped.

“Jack?” Ianto asked, confused. He gentled his grip on Jack’s body.

“We can’t,” Jack said, letting go of Ianto.

Ianto took a half step away from him. “Why, Jack? Help me understand. Please.”

Jack eased away from the wall and stepped around Ianto. Ianto watched him pace in the center of the room for a few moments, before Jack finally stopped and turned to face him.

“I’m afraid of what I could do to you if I just let it all go.”

“But, all these sessions with Elle—”

“They’re helping. But it’s not that easy.” Jack paused and took a deep breath. “There’s so much about my past that I have never told you; I didn’t think I could or that you would still want me after you heard it.”

“Jack—”

Jack held his hand up to silence him. “And then none of that mattered because you were dead. You were dead and it was my fault.”

“It was _his_ fault, Jack, not yours.”

“I know that. Logically, I know that. But my soul bears the scars of your passing. And they won’t go away.”

“But they will fade. They will become less brutal. So will your memories. They don’t have to go away, Jack. They just have to heal.”

“I’m trying, Ianto. Every day I push just a little more, bury them just a little deeper. And then something happens—a nightmare, a memory—and then it all comes back. It crushes me until I can no longer breathe. All I want is for you to hold me and tell me it’ll all be all right.”

“It will be all right,” Ianto said fiercely.

“And sometimes you’re there. I lie there and watch you sleep and I start to fear what would happen if I put my hands on you in that moment.”

“You wouldn’t hurt me.”

“I don’t know that,” Jack said.

“ _I_ do.”

“It’s not enough. I’m sorry, Ianto. But for once, your faith in me is not enough.”

“Then I’ll just have to prove it to you,” Ianto said, then punched him in the face.

Jack stumbled back, his hand to his lip. “Damn it, I always forget that right of yours,” Jack half-laughed as he gained his balance.

“Then let’s do this properly so I won’t have to remind you again.”

“Ianto—”

“It’s just sparring, Jack. Don’t tell me you’d rather do this with Elle; I might get jealous,” he replied, quirking an eyebrow.

“Hmm…then we could both be jealous,” Jack said, taking a swing at Ianto.

Ianto easily dodged it, but barely dodged out of the way of Jack’s following foot in time.

“What do you have to be jealous of Elle?” he said, aiming a kick at Jack’s hip.

“She’s seen you naked,” Jack said, blocking the kick.

“So have you. And more recently,” Ianto grinned.

“You married _her_.”

Ianto snorted and jabbed at Jack’s stomach. 

“That was a work-related experience.”

Jack smiled and flipped Ianto over his shoulder. “Still, you haven’t petitioned for divorce.”

“Aucturians don’t believe in divorce. It’s a rather messy affair. Better to keep the marriage and all our limbs,” Ianto replied, then hopped onto his feet.

“I can understand that. I rather like your limbs.”

“And Elle’s?” Ianto said, dodging another kick aimed at his abdomen.

“They’re not bad.”

“You should see them naked.”

Jack lost his concentration for a minute and Ianto tossed him to the ground, then pinned Jack down with his body.

“Gotcha,” Ianto said, whispering. He slid back until he was sitting astride Jack’s hips. “You know, Harkness, it’s sad that ‘naked woman’ works to distract you every time.”

Jack smiled and shrugged. “What can I say? Your wife is hot.”

Ianto snorted and got up, then reached out a hand to help Jack to his feet.

“All right, I’ll admit. That wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be,” Jack said.

Ianto raised the Eyebrow at him. “My dear captain. _That_ was the warm-up.”

Jack forgot about the right that time, too.


	27. The Proper Time and Place

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there is the aftermath of Jack and Ianto’s sparring session; during which no one was killed.

**Chapter 27—The Proper Time and Place**   
“Tosh is going to kick your ass when she sees me,” Ianto said, chuckling. He was studying his reflection in a small compact he had fished out of Gwen’s desk.

“Tosh? I thought Gwen was the one who wanted to stay and chaperone,” Jack replied, confused.

“Gwen was just being Gwen; Tosh is rather protective of me. I’m her favorite. For the moment.”

“Are you afraid she’ll switch loyalty to me now that I’m back?” Jack asked, handing Ianto a bottle of water.

“Hardly,” Ianto replied, pressing the cold bottle against his bruised cheekbone.

Jack folded his arms over his chest, waiting for Ianto to continue. 

Ianto sighed. “Owen’s finally started to open his eyes where Tosh is concerned. He’s even trying to be the kind of man who deserves her.”

Jack couldn’t contain his surprise.

Ianto smiled. “He took you forgiving him after Abaddon to heart, Jack. He’s trying to be worthy of that forgiveness.”

“I hadn’t noticed.”

“You’ve had other things on your mind.”

“I should have noticed. You’re my team. I should be paying more attention to all of you. I should know these things,” he said, running his hand through his hair in frustration.

“You don’t have to know everything, Jack. That’s my job.”

Jack laughed. “And you do it so very well.”

“I know.”

Jack laughed again, more heartily.

Ianto stretched and yawned. “I’m going to go get a shower. Care to join me?”

 _Gods, yes_ , Jack thought. “I think that’s a bad idea. I’ve done enough to you tonight without causing either of us serious harm. Best not to push it.”

“It wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle. And you’d never do anything I didn’t want,” Ianto said pointedly.

Jack flinched involuntarily as some of the images the Master had put in his brain came crashing to the forefront.

Ianto smiled sadly as he felt Jack’s fear and disgust. He reached out and gently caressed Jack’s cheek. “I believe it, even if you don’t.”

Jack returned the smile. “Stay the night?” he asked quietly.

“All right. But when Tosh sees me and then finds out you didn’t kiss it and make it better, she’s going to have your head.”

“It’s not _my_ head she wants.”

Ianto winced. “As glad as I am to see some of your old spark again…”

“Yeah, that was out of line. Especially about Tosh.”

“Yep.” He leaned forward and kissed Jack swiftly. “And now you’re going to be wondering when I’m going to blackmail you with it.”

“You’re an evil man, Ianto Jones.”

“I’ll be down in a little while,” he said, then headed for the showers.  
******

Ianto had barely settled into the bed next to Jack—who was doing an extremely poor job of feigning sleep—when one of the myriad alarms on Tosh’s computer went off.

“Weevils,” Jack muttered as he crawled over Ianto to get out of the bed.

“Of course,” Ianto said, following Jack.

“It’s only two,” Jack said as Ianto joined him at Tosh’s computer. “Go back to bed; I’ll take care of it.”

“I won’t get any sleep knowing you’re out there alone,” Ianto said.

“All right. Go get changed; I’ll meet you back here,” Jack said, heading for his office. 

Ianto followed him down through the hatch into his room.

Jack shot him a puzzled look as Ianto went to the wardrobe. “Uh, Ianto? What are you doing?”

“Unless you’ve done something to them, I still have a suit and shoes stashed in here,” Ianto replied.

“You’re going to go Weevil hunting in a suit?”

“It’s nothing I haven’t done before,” Ianto said, pulling the suit out and starting to get dressed. “Besides, do you honestly think I believe you would wait for me?”

Jack shrugged and began pulling on his clothes in silence.

“Huh,” Ianto said after a few moments.

“What?” Jack asked, settling his braces into place.

“I, um, need to borrow a pair of socks.”

Jack chuckled. “Really?”

Ianto rolled his eyes. “You don’t have to look _quite_ so pleased.”

Jack giggled, a sound Ianto hadn’t heard in months. “You know where they are,” he said, trying to regain his composure.

“Thank you,” Ianto said, trying to look aggrieved even as he was bolstered by Jack’s display of humor.  
******

Jack was trying very hard to concentrate on the Weevil he was tracking and not on the fact that Ianto was wearing his socks. His bright purple socks that Tosh had given him as a gag gift two Christmases ago.

“Ianto, you found yours yet?”

“Already in the boot of the SUV, Jack. I’m heading for your position,” came the reply through his comm.

“Show off,” Jack muttered.

“I heard that.”

Jack smiled. He had been terrified to let Ianto go off on his own, but the younger man had made a logical argument for splitting up. When that had failed, he had threatened to serve Jack decaf for a month.

Growling up ahead brought Jack back to the here and now. “Found it,” he whispered.

“Be careful.”

“That’s my line,” Jack whispered, pulling out the Weevil spray.

The Weevil leapt out at Jack, all sharp teeth and fury. Jack sprayed it in the face, which just served to piss it off even more. He began to make a mental note to have Tosh come up with a more effective solution when he got distracted by the Weevil’s claws sinking into his chest. Jack screamed and put his arm up to deflect the Weevil’s teeth as they went for his throat. He grunted as the creature’s teeth dug into the flesh of his forearm and the claws went for his heart.

He heard the gunshot at the same time the Weevil stiffened, then fell forward, pinning Jack to the dirty ground.

“Jack!” Ianto shouted, holstering his gun as he ran toward him. He carefully pried the dead Weevil’s jaws off of Jack’s arm, then shoved it off Jack.

Jack’s breath was gurgling in his throat.

“Oh gods, Jack,” Ianto breathed.

Jack barely had time to turn his head to look at Ianto before he died.

“Jack?” Ianto asked quietly. He felt for a pulse, knowing he wouldn’t find one. He closed Jack’s eyes, then knelt beside him, holding his hand and waiting for him to wake up. 

Fifteen minutes later, Ianto was rather scared and starting to fear Jack would not wake up this time. He became afraid—irrationally, he knew—that Jack had used up his allotment of immortality during his year of captivity. Ianto closed his eyes and began praying to any gods that were listening to not let it end here.  
******

Jack gasped awake, disoriented and scared and waiting for the Master’s voice. A dark shape leaned over him and he struck out at it. It fell back with a grunt and Jack pounced, his hands going to the man’s throat and digging in.

“Jack!” Ianto gasped, clawing at the older man’s wrists.

The red haze cleared. “Ianto?”

Ianto nodded, gasping for breath as Jack let go of him.

“Oh gods, Ianto, I’m so sorry,” Jack said, shifting back.

Ianto nodded as he coughed and rubbed his throat. “S’all right.”

Jack stood up and ran his hands through his hair. “Gods, Ianto.”

“Are you all right?”

Jack was stunned. “Ianto, _I_ just attacked _you_.”

“I know,” Ianto said, getting to his feet. “But you’re the one who just died.”

“And my first act upon resurrection was to attack you!”

“It was the first time you’ve died since you came back,” Ianto calmly explained.

“What does that have to do with anything?”

Ianto rolled his eyes, giving Jack his patented Think-About-It Look.

Jack thought about it as he helped Ianto get the dead Weevil back to the SUV.

“I’ve become used to coming back under…different circumstances,” Jack said as Ianto closed the boot.

Ianto leaned against the SUV and waited for Jack to continue.

“That doesn’t excuse what I did.”

“Jack, you followed your instincts. We’ll just all have to be sure to give you space when you resurrect until you get used to your new circumstances,” Ianto said calmly.

“Ianto, I could have killed you!”

“Jack—” he began, straightening.

“No, Ianto. You’ve been handling everything with that calm poise of yours and I’ve been grateful for it. But I _just tried to kill you_.”

“Not me. You tried to kill someone you perceived as a threat.”

Jack slammed him back against the SUV. “Damn it, Ianto! I almost killed you! Aren’t you angry with me?”

Ianto’s eyes flashed with anger. He shoved Jack away from him. “Oh, I’m angry with you Jack. But not about this.”

“Then what?”

Ianto took a deep, calming breath, visibly getting himself under control. “This is neither the time nor the place.”

“I see, you want me to talk. All the time, you’re begging me, with words or looks, to tell you about what happened to me. And when I don’t, you get that hurt puppy look. But when _I_ want to talk, it’s not the time.”

Ianto set his jaw and glared at the man he loved. “A man of your years should act a little more like a grown up,” he said harshly.

Jack watched, speechless and ashamed, as Ianto walked to the front of the SUV and got in on the passenger side.

“You can drop me at my flat,” Ianto ground out as Jack started the SUV.  
******

“When will be the right time?” Jack asked as he pulled up in front of Ianto’s flat.

“When I’m not pissed off at you. More importantly, when there’s not a Weevil in the boot of the SUV that could awaken at any time and realize its buddy is dead beside it,” Ianto replied, unbuckling his seatbelt.

“Oh,” Jack said, obviously not having thought of that.

“Sometimes, Jack, even when it’s about you, it’s not about you,” Ianto said. “I’ll see you in the morning,” he said, then squeezed Jack’s thigh before getting out of the car.

Jack watched Ianto disappear inside, then drove back to the Hub—at a speed he knew Ianto would not have approved of.


	28. The Wrath of Tosh

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day after Jack and Ianto’s session, Jack spends time with his team. With varying results.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, this is one of my favorite chapter titles.

**Chapter 28—The Wrath of Tosh**   
Jack took little comfort in the visual evidence—the dark circles under the eyes, slightly mussed hair and slumped shoulders—that Ianto’s night was as sleepless as his own

“Good morning, sir,” Ianto said as he set Jack’s coffee mug on his desk.

“Good morning. How are you feeling?”

“Bit sore from the Weevil.”

“Just from the Weevil?” Jack asked.

Ianto smiled. “That’s the story I’m giving Tosh.”

“Still protecting me, then? Even though you’re angry with me.”

Ianto set a stack of files in front of him. “These need your signature and I’ll need your notes from last night’s Weevil excursion so I can put together a report.”

Jack handed him a folder. “Done. I’ll expect the report in an hour.”

“Sir,” Ianto said, then left the office. He looked up with a smile as Tosh and Gwen came in, laughing over something. “Good morning, Gwen, Tosh.”

“Ianto! What the hell did he do to you?” Tosh said, rushing forward.

“Alas, this is from a Weevil. Jack and I had to go round up a pair last night. Would you like coffee?” Ianto replied.

“So, the two of you didn’t…?” Gwen asked.

“I have doughnuts!” Owen announced as he entered the Hub.

Ianto took the opportunity to hurry up to the kitchenette while the girls were distracted. Out of the corner of his eye a few minutes later, he saw everyone, including Jack, heading up to the conference room. He loaded a tray with mugs and a pile of napkins—he had seen Jack eat—then followed them up to the room.

Jack waited until Ianto entered the room to eat his éclair. He watched the younger man’s eyes glint as he opened his mouth and ate half the éclair in one bite.

“Hungry, sir?” Ianto asked.

Jack almost choked.

Owen smirked. “Walked right into that one.”

Jack glared as he polished off his first cup of coffee. Ianto switched the mug for a fresh one, his fingers gently grazing Jack’s. Jack watched him finish serving the others before taking his usual seat beside Jack.

Ianto flashed him a grin before lifting his own mug to his lips. He carefully licked the rim before taking a sip.

Jack smiled. So, that was how it was going to be. Business as usual at work—the long glances, teasing touches and rampant innuendo—and all the angst after hours. He could live with that.

“Tosh, where are we on the Rift spike predictor program?” Jack asked, turning his attention to the morning meeting.  
******

“So, what do you think happened between Jack and Ianto last night?” Owen asked Tosh several hours later.

“Hmm?” she replied, eyes glued to her computer screen.

Owen smiled and ran a finger lightly down the back of her neck.

Tosh jumped. “Owen, you know that distracts me.”

“That’s why I did it. What do you think?”

“About?”

Owen turned her chair so she had to face him. “What do you think happened between the Wonder Twins last night after we all went home?”

“What do you mean?”

“Did you not see that monstrous bruise on Ianto’s cheekbone?”

“He said they went out on a Weevil hunt.”

Owen laughed and resisted the urge to kiss Tosh on the tip of her nose. “Oh, Tosh. You are so cute when you’re blindly believing something.”

Tosh glared at him over her glasses. “Be very careful, Owen.”

“Tosh, if a Weevil had caused that bruise, it’d have taken Ianto’s eye with it.”

“Oh. Oh,” she repeated darkly, her eyes narrowing. “I have to go run the most recent results by Jack.”

She got up and hurried into Jack’s office, carefully closing the door behind her.

Owen grinned, half wishing he could figure out how to turn on the CCTV camera in Jack’s office.

“I don’t know whether you did that because you wanted to watch Jack squirm or if you genuinely care for my well being,” Ianto said from behind him.

Owen jumped. “Jesus, Ianto. Someone should bell your neck.”

“What makes you think I’d let you put a collar on me when I’ve said no every time Jack asks me?” Ianto asked.

“Wow. Just because we’re friends now doesn’t mean you get to share information like that,” Owen replied, standing up and making his way to Autopsy

“Aw, but I want to talk about my feeeeelings,” Ianto called after Owen.

Owen flashed two fingers at him as he disappeared into his own domain.

Ianto turned to follow him, thinking Owen could do with a bit more taunting, but was distracted by the sound of Jack’s office door opening. Tosh exited the room, looking a little flushed and smoothing down her shirt. She strolled to her desk and nodded briefly at Ianto before returning to her computer program.

Ianto made a cup of coffee for Jack, then went to his office.

“Everything all right, Captain?” Ianto asked, handing him the coffee.

Jack, still dazed, stared up at him. “What did you say to Tosh?”

“Nothing. I did see Owen talking to her just before she headed up here, though. Why?”

“She just spent five minutes yelling at me and wailing on me with a UNIT report.”

Ianto failed to smother the chuckle.

“This isn’t funny! This is insubordination.”

Ianto cleared his throat. “Of course, sir. I’ll write something up for her file.”

“See that you do,” Jack nodded.

Ianto nodded once, then left the office, pulling the door closed behind him.

He made it four steps before breaking into a fit of giggles. Tosh looked up at him and smiled even as she blushed. He paused to press a kiss to the top of her head before heading up to the Tourist Office.  
******

Jack stood in the doorway of his office as his team packed up to head home for the day. He had spent most of the day watching them work and interact. In the short time he’d been gone, they had become closer. Bound by their sense of duty and their misery over having betrayed Jack, they had become the team he always knew they could be. More than that, he thought as he watched Ianto help Gwen into her coat, they had become a family.

“Ianto,” he called out once the others had left.

“Sir?”

“Fancy another go tonight?”

“With the Weevils or the training?” he replied, quirking an eyebrow.

Jack laughed. “The training. I’ll meet you downstairs in ten minutes?”

“Ten minutes and counting,” he said, the familiar wicked smile on his face.


	29. Devastation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Ianto makes a decision that changes everything.

**Chapter 29—Devastation**   
An hour later, they were both sweaty and sore. The session was going well, as far as Jack was concerned. But Ianto wanted more. He wanted _Jack_. But each time he was close enough to brush a kiss against Jack’s mouth or touch him in a way that was remotely intimate, Jack flinched away. And Ianto’s heart broke a little bit more. This wasn’t working; he wasn’t getting through to Jack.

Finally, Ianto flung Jack against the wall and pinned him there with his body. One hand clutched Jack’s hands over his head, while the other dug into the flesh of Jack’s hip.

“I think I win this one,” Ianto said, his voice husky.

“Well, law of averages says that could happen,” Jack said, flashing him a tired smile.

Ianto returned the smile and leaned forward, taking Jack’s mouth in a gentle kiss. Jack moaned against his mouth; Ianto took the opportunity to slip his tongue inside, his hand sliding under the material of Jack’s shirt to caress his stomach. Jack slumped against the wall and took a moment to savor the onslaught of Ianto’s seduction.

“Wait,” Jack said a moment later, tearing his mouth away from Ianto’s.

Ianto sighed and rested his forehead against Jack’s. “Why?”

“I can’t…I could…I might not…We should wait,” he finally managed.

“Wait for what, Jack?”

Jack slipped out of Ianto’s arms. “I’m not ready yet. The time’s not right.”

Ianto laughed harshly. “The time will never be right if you don’t _try_ to move forward. You’ve made progress, Jack, but you keep stopping yourself. You keep holding back,” he said, turning to lean back against the wall.

“Ianto, I just need you to wait,” Jack said softly, caressing the younger man’s cheek.

Ianto resisted the urge to lift his arms and pull Jack into an embrace.

“Why?” he asked.

“Because I want you, Ianto. I want you so badly I can barely breathe. I am terrified of what could happen if I let myself have you. I want you so much I won’t have any control.”

Ianto laughed, a shockingly harsh sound in the room.

“If that were true, you’d be attacking this like you do every other problem that plants itself in your path. You would tear through to get what you want,” he said.

“I am trying!”

“Not enough,” Ianto said sadly.

Jack took a step back, stunned by Ianto’s comment. He had thought he was doing this the right way; slowly, but surely. Eventually, he could overcome his fears and be the man he thought Ianto wanted; the man Ianto had fallen in love with so long ago.

“Ianto—”

Ianto shook his head and turned away from Jack, trying to gather himself. “I don’t want to have this fight right now,” he said softly.

“Okay, good idea. Let’s go get cleaned up and I’ll just tell Elle these sessions aren’t working.”

“Not _this_ fight,” he said, gesturing to the room. “A different, more important fight. Our timing’s horrible, but that’s nothing new.” 

“What are you talking about? What other fight is there?” Jack asked, truly confused.

“The fight you should have been expecting. The fight we would have had the moment you came back if I hadn’t remembered the Year. The fight we’ll have once I know that having it won’t shove you back into some dark corner of your soul that neither Elle nor I can drag you out of.”

Jack just stared at him, utterly without a clue. “I don’t understand.”

Ianto began to pace, his hands running through his hair. Maybe the timing was right; maybe this was what he had to do to save his lover. It had an even chance of costing him Jack’s love; but if it saved Jack from this darkness, it was worth the price. He finally stopped, having come to his decision. 

“I died,” Ianto said.

He watched Jack’s eyes widen as his breath caught.

“I was tortured for hours because I wouldn’t tell the Master how your immortality worked. Then I was tortured in order to break you; for his entertainment. I was tortured and I died,” he continued, his voice raw.

Jack bit back a whimper and watched Ianto, who had lowered his head to take a deep breath.

“And then I was in the Hub,” he continued without looking up. “I was sitting in the conference room watching the first contact special go to static as UNIT and everyone else scrambled to figure out what the hell had just happened. But I knew. Time reset itself. I was alive. Millions of people were still alive.” 

He looked at Jack.

“But you were still gone.”

“Ianto…”

“You _left_. Before you knew about Saxon, you left us. You left _me_. Of everything that happened, that’s still the thing I have trouble with. Because that was the one decision that was completely yours. It was so easy for you to just run away,” Ianto fairly shouted, his voice full of anguish.

“But I came back, Ianto. I came back for you,” he said desperately.

“And when you learned that I remembered that Year, you ran again. You ran inside and you won’t let me in.”

“I can’t.”

“You won’t!”

“It’s not something you should have to deal with!”

“Of course it is! I love you, damn it!”

They stared at each other in silence, taking deep breaths to calm themselves.

“You can’t go on like this. You’re killing yourself,” Ianto said quietly.

“I’ll be fine. I just need more time!” Jack argued.

“You mean to lock it away and pretend it never happened? Go back to the way things were before you ran off?”

“Yes!” Jack snapped desperately.

“No,” Ianto said firmly, shaking his head. “I don’t want him back. The Jack who just ran off without even saying goodbye. Who left without a thought, treating me like the part-time shag you always swore I wasn’t.”

“I didn’t—”

Ianto forced back the tears tightening his throat. “I want the Jack who had faith enough in something to wait for a miracle, fighting through the worst torture imaginable. The Jack who made the choice to come back. For me.”

“Ianto, I can’t be him anymore. I thought I could. I _want_ to be him. But I can’t.” 

Ianto looked at him, heartbreak in his eyes.

“Then I can’t be with you,” he said sadly, then turned and walked away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the record, the reader-preferred projectile to toss at the author during these moments is shoes. And if they are very cute shoes, please throw them in pairs.


	30. Faith

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jack is devastated in the aftermath of Ianto’s revelation. And Jack and Elle do not play nice.

**Chapter 30—Faith**   
“Elle.”

“Ianto? What’s wrong?” Elle said, sitting up straight. She knew that tone; something was wrong.

“Jack’s on his way to you.”

“All right. Are you coming with him?”

Ianto sighed. “No. I just…”

“Are you close to home, Ianto?”

“At my front door.”

“Don’t go anywhere; you sound wrecked.”

“I am,” he said softly.

“Do you want me to come over after?”

“No. Jack needs you.”

“Ianto, you need help, too,” she said, trying to keep the desperation out of her voice.

“I know what to do, Elle. Jack doesn’t.” Ianto paused and took a deep breath. “Elle, you have to do whatever it takes to help him.”

“What happened, Ianto?”

Her doorbell rang.

“He’ll tell you,” Ianto said, then hung up.

Elle threw down her phone and ran to the door. The angry accusation died on her lips the moment she saw Jack.

“What happened?” she asked quietly.

“I shouldn’t be here,” he said, stepping back.

She reached out and grabbed him by the lapels, pulling him inside. “It’s my house; I get to say who should or should not be here.”

Jack nodded. 

She helped him out of his coat and hung it in the hall closet. She turned back to him, hands on her hips in a gesture reminiscent of Ianto.

Jack whimpered.

“Okay. Go get changed. I’ll meet you downstairs,” she said gently, then moved to go past him.

He caught her arm and pulled her close.

“Jack,” she warned carefully.

He tilted his head and kissed her, his mouth carefully claiming hers.

Elle pulled back and smiled at him. “That’s not what you came here for.”

“How do you know?”

She reached between them and cupped him through his trousers. “Not even a twitch,” she said.

Jack laughed sharply. 

“Go get changed, Romeo. I’ll get the Bot ready downstairs.”

Jack nodded and headed for the spare room to change into his sparring clothes.  
******

“No weapons?” Jack asked as he stood across from Elle on the mat.

“It didn’t seem like a good idea,” she replied.

Jack snorted. “You’re a robot.”

Elle tsked and shook her head. “That’s not the way to think, Jack. If you’re going to control it, you have to forget about the robot.”

“But it’s such pleasant packaging,” Jack replied, the smile not reaching his eyes.

Elle swept his legs out from under him. “Do you want to fight or flirt?”

Jack leapt to his feet. “I’m amazing, baby. I can do both.”

“Call me baby again and you lose a finger,” she replied, then punched him squarely in his smiling mouth.

“Why, Mrs. Jones, I wouldn’t think of it,” Jack said, then returned the punch with a left hook of his own.

“Ah, we’re back to Mrs. Jones.”

“So?”

“That means something happened with Ianto. Care to tell?”

Jack dodged a kick and spun away from her. “Why do you always want to talk?”

“Part of the process, Captain. It’s not all feet and fists.”

“Talking makes it hard for me to concentrate.”

Elle knocked him down with a roundhouse. “Fine,” she said, rolling her shoulders. “I can kick your ass in silence just as easily. But that’s all you’ll get out of this: bumps and bruises.”

“Fine.”

She rolled her eyes and went after him.  
******

Elle pulled herself to her feet. Jack watched her warily, waiting for the next move. They had been circling and wailing on each other for the better part of an hour, but Jack’s mind was obviously elsewhere.

“Ugh. You’re not getting angry, Jack.”

“Eureka, I am cured.”

She snorted. “Hardly. You’re keeping it down and that’s progress. But it’s only progress because your heart’s not in it; you’re not feeling anything. But I bet I can get you riled with just one word.”

“Go for it,” he said, bracing himself for her to say Ianto’s name.

He wasn’t remotely prepared for what she said.

“Lisa.”

“What?” he said, his shock making him miss the kick coming at his hip.

“Lisa. Why didn’t you know about her?”

“Ianto worked in Secure Archives. He’s an expert at keeping things hidden away and off the grid. I had no idea she was down there.”

Elle shook her head. “I don’t mean the Cyberwoman in the basement, Jack. I mean Lisa. Why didn’t you know anything about the woman Ianto loved?”

“It wasn’t my business.”

“Come on, Jack. You knew about Rhys before you hired Gwen. Your first directive to her was to protect her life outside of Torchwood. You knew about, or at least of, the man she loved. So why didn’t you know about Lisa?”

“Ianto’s a very private person.”

“He is. But this is on you, Jack. The Cyberwoman in the basement? Traumatizing Ianto so badly he was overloaded to his breaking point? You weren’t there that night, Jack. I was. I held him while he trembled and thought he should die and could barely fight back all the emotions overwhelming him. His mind nearly shattered. You did that to him, Jack.”

“ _He_ hid her in the basement.”

“And if you had been thinking like a human being, and not like a walking 51st-century hormone, you would have asked him about her at some point. You would have asked if he was doing all right.”

“I didn’t know!”

“You didn’t want to know. You just wanted him where you could look at him and lust after him and one day, maybe, shag the living daylights out of him. Because that’s all big, bad Jack Harkness really wanted: another pretty shag toy.”

Jack hauled off and punched her, holding nothing back. The vehemence of the blow surprised him and felt a pang of remorse before he remembered she was a robot.

Elle dropped to her knees, then looked up at Jack and wiped the blood away from her split lip. “There you are,” she said.

Jack’s eyes followed the drops of blood as she flung them away.

“But…Not the robot,” Jack said, looking back at her, his eyes widening as the realization hit.

“Not the robot,” she agreed, standing up. Then she hauled off and belted him across the face. “So let’s go.”

“But how?” he asked, regaining his balance and kicking her legs out from under her.

Elle flipped back onto her feet and dodged just out of his reach. “Genetic quirk. I don’t feel pain. So, as long as you don’t break anything that keeps me functioning—” she paused to take a swipe at his ribs—“I can go all night.”

A light came on behind his eyes as he dodged a punch to the cheek. Someone who could keep up with him. Someone he didn’t have to fear really hurting.

“Really?” he asked.

“Really. So stop holding back; it’s not getting us anywhere,” she said, then kicked him in the stomach.

“Low blow,” Jack gasped.

“Not as low as it could have been. Want me to get really low?” she asked as she caught his forearm before he could land a punch and twisted it.

Jack grunted and pulled away from her, throwing her towards the wall in the process.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” she said, recovering and kicking him in the knee. “Ianto called just before you got here. He sounded absolutely wrecked. I was ready to take your head off when I opened the door.”

“Why didn’t you? Would have saved us both a lot of trouble,” he replied, kicking at her stomach. She dodged, taking the blow on her hip instead.

“Because that wouldn’t have solved the problem. What happened between the two of you?”

“He told me he couldn’t be with me,” Jack said, belting her in the stomach.

“And what made him say something like that?”

“He thinks I’m shutting him out. That I’m trying to push everything away instead of dealing with it.”

“Smart lad,” she said, flinging him into the wall.

“I’m not shutting him out. I’m just not ready to move past where we are right now.”

“Beating the hell out of each other on a regular basis is better than crawling into his arms at night?”

“I’m trying to protect him!” Jack shouted, shoving her away. 

Elle landed on her rear with a loud thump. She calmly folded her arms over her knees and looked up at him from her seat on the floor. “Haven’t you realized yet that Ianto doesn’t want or need your protection?”

Jack grabbed her by the elbows and hauled her upright. “This isn’t about what he wants!” he shouted into her face.

She brought her arms up under his and broke his hold. “Maybe it should be!” she yelled back.

“I am tired of everyone yelling at me about what Ianto wants!”

“Why? Because you’re too scared to admit it’s the same thing you want?!” she shouted, grabbing his shoulders and shoving him back into the wall.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about!” he yelled, reversing their positions.

“I am the only one in this entire bloody situation who knows what the fuck she’s talking about!”

Their faces were inches apart, their harsh breaths rushing against each other’s lips. Jack tightened his grip on Elle’s shoulders and took her mouth in a savage, biting kiss. Instead of backing away or shoving him off her, Elle responded, her teeth sinking into his lower lip as she tore at his t-shirt. Jack grunted as her nails tore into the skin of his chest as she rent the fabric. She chuckled low in her throat and pushed him to the floor, following him down and straddling his hips. Jack pulled his head back and grabbed her wrists, stilling them. 

“Elle,” he gasped. “I—”

She bent down and took his lip into her mouth, biting down until she drew blood. He grabbed her shoulders and sat up beneath her, growling.

“There it is,” she whispered, looking him in the eye.

“I’m sorry. I can’t… We shouldn’t—”

She placed her hands on either side of his neck, knowing the gesture would make him uncomfortable even as he was unable to look away.

“Better me than Ianto,” she said quietly.

“Shut up.”

“You’ve barely touched him—sexually—since you came back. Because you know the danger if you do; you’ve seen that little glimpse of it. What happens when you lose control and give in to your desires.”

“No. Ianto—”

“Ianto didn’t send you to me because he couldn’t give you what you need. He can. He would. You know that. But he can’t take what you have to get rid of. _I_ can.”

Jack grabbed her wrists, intending to push her away. “I need to think.”

“No. Now,” she said, leaning in to kiss him again. “Let it out,” she breathed against his mouth. 

Jack wound his hand into her hair and kissed her, their teeth clashing and lips tearing. Elle let out a low growl as she tore her mouth away so she could finish getting his shirt off him. Jack wrapped his arms around her waist, biting at her breast through the material of her shirt. She arched into him and reached between them, clawing at the material of her shirt. They rolled across the hard mat, tearing at clothes and skin. Jack ended up on top of Elle, leaning in to bite at her neck. Elle put her hands above her head, palms flat against the wall, as Jack thrust into her. She reached one hand down and grabbed his jaw in her hand.

“Now,” she gasped. “Control it.”

Jack’s dark gaze lightened briefly and he nodded. His next thrusts were slow, shallow and controlled as he buried his mouth at her breast. Elle buried her hand in his hair and arched beneath him, rolling her hips to meet his rhythm. Jack groaned and lifted his head to kiss her, his tongue gently delving to taste her.

Elle moaned into his mouth, savoring the taste and talent of Jack’s mouth. She broke the kiss and pressed her mouth against his ear. “Harder. Faster. Controlled,” she said, then bit his earlobe.

Jack growled and began to pound into her, ignoring everything but the beat of his heart and the feeling of her body yielding to him. His hands were everywhere; skimming across her torso, grabbing her thighs to pull her legs higher up around his waist, turning her head for his kiss. Fingers bit into flesh and nails tore at skin. Rough, slick, pounding. He bit into her lip as his orgasm took him, swallowing her cries as she was shattered by her own climax.  
******

They lay on the mat, sweaty and panting. Elle lay on her side, her head pillowed on one arm. Jack’s hand was gently clasped around her free hand as he rested with his eyes closed. He felt sore and lighter and a little guilty.

“Stop feeling even remotely guilty,” Elle muttered, squeezing his hand.

“Psychic too?” he asked lazily.

“Don’t need to be. You’re thinking too loudly.”

“Yeah, but I’m only feeling guilty because I don’t feel guilty.”

She laughed. “Makes sense. For you, that is.”

Jack smiled and let his mind wander.

“Jack, what kept you going after they murdered Ianto?” Elle finally asked, breaking the silence.

Jack turned his head to look at her. “This is very strange pillow talk.”

“That’s fine. We’re not actually on pillows.”

“I had noticed,” he said, smiling.

She freed her hand from his and poked him in the side. “Stop avoiding the question.”

“Faith.”

“In the Doctor?”

“Yes and no. Faith that it would all be worth it. Faith that there would be some way to save the world. Even if I couldn’t save Ianto. I knew Ianto would have wanted me to survive. To keep fighting. Save the people who could be saved. So I did.”

“For Ianto.”

“For Ianto.”

She smiled and closed her eyes. “I thought it might have been something like that.”

“There’s something about him that inspires that kind of faith.”

“You should tell him that.” She opened her eyes and looked at him. “There are a lot of things you should tell him.”

“I know. I will.”

“Soon, Jack. Not all of us have forever.”

He closed his eyes and found the memory of Ianto dead wasn’t as visceral as it had been. “I know,” he breathed.

She reached out and squeezed his shoulder. “I’m going to get a shower and go to bed. Lock up behind you and tell Ianto I said hello.”

Jack couldn’t resist cracking open an eye to watch her naked bottom as she walked away.


	31. The Other Side

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the aftermath of his fight with Jack, Ianto needs some comfort, too.

**Chapter 31—The Other Side**   
Ianto groaned when he heard the knock on his front door. He unfolded his legs and went to answer the light, but insistent, knocking. The tight reign he was keeping on his empathy told him the person at the door was female, but nothing more. He sighed. He had told Elle to help Jack; he knew what to do to get his reactions to the past few days under control, but Jack didn’t. 

“Elle, I—” he said, stopping when he saw the person waiting for him. “Tosh.”

“Hi, Ianto. I’m sorry to bother you at home. This is probably a bad time,” she said, taking in the incongruous sight of Ianto in sweats and a t-shirt.

“Yes. No. Sorry, do come in. Tea?” he asked as he stepped back to let her inside.

“That would be lovely,” she said, following him. She waited patiently in the hall as Ianto locked the door and hung up her coat.

“What brings you across town?” Ianto asked, walking to his kitchen.

“I needed to talk to you,” she said as she peeked into his living room. There were candles lit and the soothing scent of lavender wafted out.

“Is everything all right?” he asked from the kitchen. He took a deep breath, trying to center himself. The last thing he needed tonight was company; even a friend as soothing as Tosh usually was. He needed to be alone.

“Ianto, I saw you when you left the Hub earlier,” she said as she entered the kitchen.

Ianto barely managed to keep hold of the kettle and not drop it into the sink. “I see,” he said.

“I thought maybe you could use some company. I thought maybe—”

“It’s not your fault,” Ianto said, turning to wrap his arms loosely around her.

“I yelled at him today. I told him he needed to treat you better than he was. And then I saw you leave and you looked so hurt,” she said, her face pressed against his shoulder.

“You yelling at him did not cause me any harm, Tosh,” he said, rubbing his hand over her back.

Tosh stepped back and looked up at him. “Then what did?”

He smiled and went back to making their tea. “We had a fight. It’s not a big deal. Jack and I have fought before and we’ll probably fight again.”

“But you were meditating,” she said, pointing over her shoulder toward the living room. “You told me you only do that when things are really, really bad. You haven’t done it since...Mary,” she said softly.

Ianto smiled. The day after Mary had been sent to the sun, Ianto had taken Tosh out to dinner. Afterward, he had invited her to his home and taught her to meditate. He recognized a wounded soul and she had been the first person to forgive him after Lisa. Well, the first person within Torchwood.

Ianto shook his head. He didn’t want to think about Elle right now. Those thoughts led to thoughts of Jack and thoughts of Jack led to…

“Ianto?” Tosh asked, recognizing the tension in his shoulders.

He pushed himself away from the counter. “Tosh, do you remember when you all came back from the Himalayas and you told us you noticed something had gone wrong with time?”

“Yes, but you said it was only about two days.”

“It was a year, Tosh. And in that year, horrible things happened. Things that would make Brynblaidd look a walk in the park. It changed Jack. He’s working on dealing with the changes, but it’s a slow process.”

“You know what happened in that year, don’t you?” she asked, moving to stand beside him.

“Not all of it. But enough,” he answered honestly.

“And that’s why…the rages, like with the Tridgles.”

“Yes.”

“These changes…can he still, you know, come back?”

Ianto nodded. “Still immortal.”

“What happened tonight?”

“We were sparring—perfectly safe, don’t worry—and we had a fight. That’s when you saw me leave.”

“And Jack?” she asked softly.

Ianto put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her into a hug. “Jack is getting what he needs. Right now, that’s not me.”

“And what do you need?”

“Tea and good company, apparently. My headache’s almost gone now. Care to stay for a while?”

Tosh smiled at him. “Always.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Ianto-Tosh friendship is one of my favorite things in canon and fanon. And headcanon. I own a lot of canons, apparently.


	32. Healing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jack and Elle engage in more not-pillow-talk. Jack is mildly abused in the process.

**Chapter 32—Healing**   
Elle jogged down her stairs, putting her mostly-dry hair up with her favorite clip. She paused when she heard noise coming from her kitchen. She quietly reached into the drawer of her hall table and pulled out a gun. She carefully flipped off the safety and padded to the kitchen doorway. She rolled her eyes and relaxed her shoulders when she realized Jack was in her kitchen, brewing a pot of coffee. She put the safety back on and stepped into the kitchen

“I thought you had a bad habit of blowing those up,” she said, pulling open her junk drawer and putting the gun away.

“Yours is a lot simpler than Ianto’s,” he replied without turning around. His hair was still damp from his shower and he had changed back into the clothes he had arrived in.

She reached into the cabinet and pulled out a mug, setting it down beside the one he had retrieved for himself. Then she sat at the table and waited.

Jack fixed their coffees and sat down across from her, sliding her mug over to her.

“Why are you still here, Jack?” she asked softly.

He looked up at her. “How do I tell Ianto?”

She smiled gently at him. “Just tell him. You and I had sex. It was something you needed and it won’t happen again.”

“Easy for you to say. He’s already mad at me for leaving him to chase after the Doctor. We won’t survive this betrayal.”

She reached out and took Jack’s hands in hers. “He won’t see it that way. Believe me.”

“What we have is so fragile right now, Elle. I’m just getting him back and—ow!”

She had smacked him in the middle of the forehead. “Stop being a self-defeating idiot. Ianto loves you. Ianto sent you to me so you could heal because the two of you couldn’t do it alone.”

“But—”

She raised her hand toward his forehead again.

He leaned back and nodded for her to continue.

“If the roles were reversed; if I were someone you trusted implicitly and Ianto needed my help, would you give him to me to help?”

Jack smiled. “There’s no ‘giving’ when it comes to Ianto. He’d have to accept the help.”

She raised an eyebrow at him and let him think the sentence through.

“Which is exactly what I had to do,” he said.

“The point is, if you trusted me and knew I could help Ianto, would you hold it against him if he took the help? Even if meant someone else did something for him that you couldn’t? Was something to him you couldn’t be?”

Jack thought about it. “No. No. If it meant that Ianto was healing, I wouldn’t care how it happened.”

“So why do you think he’d feel any differently? I’m not just some stranger you went out and shagged. And it wasn’t about pleasure or love. It was about release. About healing. He’s not going to begrudge you that.”

Jack nodded and looked down into his coffee, thinking. After a few moments, he looked up at her. “He already knows, doesn’t he?”

“Probably. But not because I told him.”

Jack laughed softly. “I have to stop underestimating him.”

“That would be a good start,” she agreed. “Jack, I am no danger to you and Ianto. He knows that; you should, too.”

“I don’t know…you are the one he married,” he said, smiling.

She smacked him on the forehead again, lighter and with more affection this time. He laughed as she rose to refill her coffee cup.

“Elle, about what happened between us. It was sudden…unplanned.”

“Ah,” she said, turning to face him and lean back against the counter. “That fun little genetic quirk of mine makes pregnancy…difficult. But I take my own precautions. As for anything else, I am as clean as you are. In fact,” she said, folding her arms across her chest, “my last lover is your last lover.”

“Oh. Um, and feel free to smack me in the forehead again, but—”

“After Lisa died. It was something he needed. To heal,” she said, looking him straight in the eye, willing him to get it.

Jack stood up and pulled Elle into a tight embrace. “Thank you,” he whispered into her hair.

She smiled and returned the hug. “You can stay here tonight—in the spare room—if you like. But I think you should go home.”

He stepped back, keeping his hands on her arms. “I probably should. But I’m going to the Hub. See how I make it through the rest of the night and go from there.”

She rolled her eyes. “I think I’m going to have to find a word stronger than ‘stubborn’ to describe you.”

He laughed and reached out to cup her cheek in his palm. His thumb traced over her split lower lip. “Sorry about that,” he said.

She shrugged. “Just a little pull.”

“How exactly does the no pain thing work?” he asked as they walked toward the hall closet.

“No bloody clue. Once my dad figured it out, he started teaching me how to hide it. He was afraid someone would take me away and start running experiments on me. So I learned to react and yell when I was injured. I feel a kind of pressure or pull, depending on the injury; but nothing you’d really describe as pain.”

“How did Yvonne not lock you up in a room somewhere?” he asked.

“She didn’t know. I let Torchwood recruit me for my skills and never gave them a reason to look at me crossways. As long as I kept bringing her shiny toys, she didn’t bother with any quirks I may have had,” she said, handing him his coat.

“Until you started giving Ianto special attention.”

She nodded. “Until then.”

“You risked a lot for him.”

She shrugged. “He’s Ianto,” she said simply.

He pulled on his coat and leaned forward to kiss her softly. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“And not just for Ianto.”

“I know. Go to the Hub, get some rest. And then tomorrow, try talking to him about everything. They say confession is good for the soul.”

He laughed. “If I start confessing things, I’ll never get around to getting our relationship back on track.”

She smiled. “Take care of each other, Jack.”

He quirked an eyebrow at her. “That sounded uncomfortably like a good-bye.”

“Oh, I’ll be around. But I think it’s time the two of you worked without a buffer.”

He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, then reached for the door.

“Jack?”

“Yes?”

“What I’ve told you tonight…you understand why I still can’t afford Torchwood to find me.”

“Torchwood Three is different, Elle.”

“But Three’s not alone in the world, Jack. You never know who’s watching.”

“Your secret is safe with me, Elle. Ianto and I will do everything we can to protect you.”

She smiled and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you.”

He nodded and left the house, pausing on the steps to make sure he heard her engage the locks before continuing to the SUV.

On impulse, he drove past Ianto’s on the way to the Hub; telling himself it was just to see if Ianto was still awake. As he slowed in front of Ianto’s, he noticed that all the lights in the flat were off and Toshiko’s car was parked up the street. Jack sped back up and drove to the Hub, smiling. He was glad Ianto wasn’t alone tonight.


	33. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A normal day leads to the conversation that could change…who am I kidding? Did you see the chapter title?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is EXPLICIT sex between two consenting adults in this chapter. Like, explicit explicit. We may need to come up with a new word for explicit.

**Chapter 33—Home**  
The next day was blessedly normal—two Weevil attacks; one handled by Tosh and Jack, and one by Owen and Gwen. Ianto had been upstairs in the Tourist Office most of the day; it seemed everyone and their mother had come into Cardiff for the day. It was just as well; Jack needed to talk to Ianto and he didn’t want to spend time alone with the younger man until he could have a long stretch of time with him. He didn’t want to be interrupted; he was afraid he would lose his nerve if he had to stop once he’d started.

“Rift activity!” Tosh called out, interrupting Jack’s train of thought.

“Is it moving?” he asked, walking to look at her computer over her shoulder.

“No. It’s staying in one place. Looks to be about the size of a small television,” she replied.

“Any radiation?” Owen asked, joining them.

“Nothing more than the usual background. It seems inert,” Tosh replied.

“Famous last words,” Jack muttered. He looked up as Ianto came through the cog door. “Ianto, fancy a field trip?”

Ianto raised an eyebrow. “We’re not all going camping again, are we?”

Jack stood up straight and smiled, thrusting his hands in his pockets. “Quick snatch and grab.”

“I guess that means he’s going with you,” Owen said to Jack, earning a sharp elbow in the stomach from Tosh.

Jack smiled, his gaze still fixed on Ianto. “Actually, I was going to send Ianto with Tosh.”

Ianto nodded, then turned and went to the garage to prepare the SUV. Tosh quickly grabbed her gear and followed him.

“They’re spending a lot of time together,” Owen said, watching Tosh leave.

“It’s good for morale, Owen.”

Owen muttered something under his breath as he walked to Autopsy.

“Well, I find it good for _my_ morale,” Jack snickered.

“You would,” Gwen said from behind him.

Jack jumped at the sound of her voice. “What, is it some kind of Welsh ninja thing?” he asked.

Gwen tilted her head to look at him. “Is what a ninja thing?”

“That sneak-up-on-Jack thing.”

“Not ninja. Purely for entertainment purposes.”

“That’s it. You and Ianto are no longer allowed to play together.”

Gwen stuck her tongue out at him. 

Jack returned the expression.

“So, Tosh and Ianto went out to retrieve an artifact,” she began.

“Yes,” he replied, inclining his head for her to continue.

“Are you avoiding him?”

“Just for the day. Once you guys are out of here, he’s mine. All mine,” Jack said, leering.

Gwen crossed her arms over her chest. “In that case, we’re going to have to work out some kind of signal so none of us walk in on you.”

Jack clapped her on the shoulder. “I’ll hang one of his ties from the cog door.”

She rolled her eyes, causing him to squeeze her shoulder before trotting up the stairs to his office.

Gwen watched him go, then went to her desk to finish the report she had been ducking all day.  
****

Tosh and Ianto came in two hours later, still arguing about exactly what the artifact was.

“Ianto, it’s quite clear that it’s designed for kitchen use,” Tosh said as she carried the artifact into the conference room.

“Really? You’re going with ‘alien toaster’?” Ianto asked, following her.

“Actually, I was thinking ‘alien blender’,” she replied, setting the artifact down and examining it.

Ianto folded his arms across his chest. “Fine, but I’m going to go down to archives. I am going to find something similar to it in the files and you’re going to realize I’m right,” he said, then turned on his heel and strode away.

“What have you got for me, Tosh?” Jack asked as he joined her.

“The artifact. Completely inert. I’m scanning these hieroglyphs on the side now. I know I’ve seen them somewhere before,” she said, never looking up from the scanner in her hand.

“Where’s Ianto?”

Tosh looked up at him. “He’s in the archives. You should go distract him.”

“What?” Jack asked. That kind of thing he expected from Owen, but not Tosh. _Always the quiet ones_ , he thought, and not for the first time where Tosh was concerned.

“He’s trying to prove me wrong and I want time to analyze this and show him he doesn’t know everything.”

“But he does know everything,” Jack replied.

Tosh glared at him. “He’s wrong. I know he’s wrong. This is an appliance of some sort. I can feel it.”

“What does Ianto say it is?”

“A pet carrier.”

Jack laughed, then quickly covered his mouth with his hand.

“Out,” Tosh said, glaring.

“When you’re done with that, head home for the night. If you see Ianto, tell him I’d like to see him in my office.”

“To tell him I’m right?” 

“If that’s what you want to believe,” Jack said as he left the room. He heard her muttering unflattering things about his family tree in Japanese as he walked away.

“Gwen, go home and do something to Rhys,” Jack said, stopping at her desk.

“Don’t you mean ‘something with Rhys’?”

“If I’d meant that, I’d have said it. Go on, you chased down a Weevil today. You’ve earned it. I’ll call you if the apocalypse comes.”

She smiled gratefully and he moved to Owen’s desk. The doctor was already shutting down his computer and shrugging into his coat.

“I’m off, Captain. See you tomorrow,” Owen said, hurrying past him.

Jack watched Gwen and Owen leave, then went up to his office, hoping to gain some control over his nerves before he was left alone with Ianto for the night.  
******

“Well?” Ianto asked, leaning against the conference room’s doorframe.

Tosh glared at him as the artifact beeped. “It’s not an alien blender.”

“Ah.”

“I’m not saying you were right,” she continued.

“That is quite all right. Some truths do not need to be spoken out loud,” he said, smirking.

Tosh smiled widely. “Jack wants to see you in his office.”

Ianto’s smirk faded. “Did he say why?”

“No. Do you want me to stay to protect you?”

“Tosh, I don’t need to be protected from Jack.”

“Are you sure?”

He walked over and gave her a hug. “Positive. But if I ever feel the need to have someone show him what-for, you’ll be the first person I call.” He kissed her on the top of her head. “Now get out of here so I can find out what he wants and maybe get home at a reasonable hour for once.”

She pulled out of the hug and looked at him. “One of these days, Ianto, you’re going to realize there is nothing ‘reasonable’ about Torchwood.”

“Ianto! Are you done with the Archives yet?” Jack said, coming out of his office and seeing them on the walkway.

“Case in point,” Tosh muttered.

Ianto laughed and ruffled her hair.

Tosh waved to Jack, then collected her things and hurried out of the Hub, a smile on her face.

“Did you need something, sir?” Ianto asked, hands in his pockets.

“Yes, as a matter of fact. Could you make us some coffees and join me in my office for a few minutes?” Jack replied, mirroring Ianto’s stance.

“Of course, sir. I’ll be right with you.”

Jack nodded and went into his office, closing the door behind him.  
****

Jack leaned back against the door, trying to take deep, calming breaths. He could do this. He had faced down Daleks, for gods’ sake. He could certainly face down a stunning Welshman with whom he was deeply in love and tell him what he thought, how he felt and what he needed. 

And after that, he’d solve world hunger. 

_Shit_ , he thought, lightly pounding his head back on the door.  
****

Ianto ruined the first cup of coffee because he was concentrating too hard on just getting his hands to stop shaking. He shook them hard and took a deep breath, then made the second cup just the way Jack liked it. He quickly made one for himself, his mind on autopilot. 

_This is fine. This is good. He probably just wants to talk to you. This has nothing to do with what you said to him last night. This has nothing to do with you telling Elle to do anything she could for him. This is not about anything. Breathe, you moron!_

_I’m screwed_ , he thought as he put the cups on a tray.  
****

“Your coffee, sir,” Ianto said as he entered the office.

“Thank you, Ianto.” Jack was leaning against his desk, his hands curled over the edge as he watched Ianto approach.

Ianto carefully set down the tray on the desk beside Jack.

Before Ianto could reach for the coffee cups, Jack slid an arm around his waist and pulled him tight against his body. Ianto let himself rest against Jack; not moving, just enjoying the feel of Jack against him. Jack slid his free hand up into Ianto’s hair, caressing the back of his skull as he nuzzled into the younger man’s neck. Slowly, Ianto wrapped his arms around Jack’s waist, tilting his head back into Jack’s warm hand.

Jack took a deep breath, savoring Ianto’s scent and the moment. He wasn’t sure how the rest of this evening would go, but he wanted to keep this one moment safe, just in case it was the last of its kind.

“Jack,” Ianto sighed.

Jack placed a soft, biting kiss against Ianto’s neck, then pulled away from the younger man.

“Jack?” Ianto asked, confused. He took Jack’s face in his hands, staring into his eyes, trying to understand what was going on.

“I need you to wait,” Jack said softly.

Ianto nodded. “If that means you’re going to try to be the man you said last night you wanted to be, then I can wait for as long as you need,” he said solemnly.

Jack shook his head. “I meant I need you to wait and listen.”

“Oh,” Ianto said, his heart breaking a little. This was it, then. Jack couldn’t be who Ianto wanted him to be; who Ianto knew he really was. He straightened his back, ready to wish Jack luck and go home and let his heart break completely in private.

“Sit down, please,” Jack said, taking Ianto’s hands and pulling him toward the couch.

Ianto nodded numbly and let Jack seat him on the couch. Jack gave a reassuring squeeze to Ianto’s hands, then walked away. He paced near the far end of his desk for a few minutes, alternately running his hand through his hair and rubbing the back of his neck.

“Jack, you don’t have to expl—”

“I waited for you, Ianto,” Jack said, interrupting. “Waited like I hadn’t in so long. And it felt so terribly good to wait for you. It was something I hadn’t wanted to do for an age.” He paused to turn and look at Ianto. “And even though when you finally offered, it wasn’t a real offer, I couldn’t find a way to say no. To wait any longer. So I took you. I took your offer and I took what I wanted. _Part_ of what I wanted,” he corrected himself, walking closer to Ianto. “I found myself waiting for the rest of you. And then I had you; the moment you took me I had you. You were—are—so worth the wait.” 

He paused to take a deep breath. “And then I ran off. You’re right; I left and didn’t have more than a fleeting thought for who I was leaving behind. But I learned something in that year; after you had died and I held your body. I wasn’t ready for how you dying would affect me.” He paused and met Ianto’s eyes. “I wasn’t ready for how _loving_ you would affect me.”

“Jack…” Ianto said, standing up, wanting to move closer and soothe him.

Jack stepped closer and laid one hand on Ianto’s hip, his other hand traced up to cup the younger man’s cheek. Ianto closed his eyes and leaned into the caress, biting his lip to keep from moaning at the long-missed touch.

“Before, I just wasn’t ready to let you know everything about me, to let you in. To let you love me. I was terrified that you would hear everything and run; now I’m petrified that you’ll be taken away. Because I know exactly what happens to me when you’re lost.” 

Ianto’s eyes snapped open and he started to protest.

Jack silenced him with a few fingers over his mouth. 

“There’s something about you that breaks me, Ianto. I’m not sure I’ll ever be ready for you. I know I may never be worthy of you. But I’m going to spend the rest of your life trying to be.”

Ianto was still trying to formulate a response when Jack softly pressed his lips to his. He sighed against Jack’s mouth, encouraging the other man to increase the pressure. Ianto smiled as he felt Jack’s tongue ghost over his lips, asking for entry.

_He still thinks he has to ask_ , Ianto thought, opening his mouth to his lover.

Jack moaned into Ianto’s mouth, his tongue delving deep and tangling with the younger man’s.

Ianto let Jack lead the kiss, delving as deeply as he wanted, letting Jack move his head as he explored—no, re-learned—what made Ianto moan.

“Jack, wait,” Ianto gasped, breaking the kiss. Jack’s hands were at Ianto’s waist, moving toward his belt.

Jack looked at him, eyes black with passion and an adorably confused look on his face.

“Not here. Not a quick shag against your desk. I’ve waited too long for you to look at me like that. To finally give in to what you want.” He reached up and ran his thumb over Jack’s mouth. “Take me to bed.”

Jack smiled and pulled Ianto in for a quick, hard kiss, then took his hand and led him down into his quarters.  
****

Jack turned on the small bedside light, letting its soft glow fall over the bed. It had taken a long time for Ianto to be comfortable enough to make love under bright lights and as much as Jack wanted to see every part of Ianto, he wanted his lover—his _lover_ —to be comfortable. He turned around to see Ianto waiting for him at the bottom of the ladder. The younger man had taken off his shoes and socks, but had left the rest of his clothes for Jack to remove.

Ianto smiled as Jack approached him. Jack stopped in front of him and cupped Ianto’s face in his hands.

“I love you,” Jack said.

Ianto sucked in a breath. He hadn’t expected that.

“I love you, Jack. For as long as I have.”

Jack whimpered quietly and kissed Ianto passionately, his teeth scraping against Ianto’s lips. Ianto responded, sliding his tongue into Jack’s mouth as the older man pulled his tie off. 

Jack pulled back and held the tie up for Ianto to see. “I’m keeping this,” he said, his voice thick with desire.

“Anything,” Ianto said, burying his hands in Jack’s hair and pulling him into another kiss. 

Jack carefully tucked the tie into his pocket, then slid Ianto’s jacket off his shoulders, letting it fall to the ground as he tore open Ianto’s shirt. He laughed into Ianto’s mouth as he heard the buttons scattering across the room.

“Oops,” Ianto murmured, his own hands scrabbling at the buttons on Jack’s waistcoat. He finally managed to open them, then clawed at the buttons on his shirt, finally shoving it open and off of Jack.

“Ianto, wait,” Jack said, tilting his head back to escape Ianto’s seeking mouth. Ianto merely changed direction and attacked Jack’s neck, biting into the flesh above his pounding pulse.

“Gah!” Jack shouted, pushing Ianto away from him.

“Sorry,” Ianto said, afraid he had hurt Jack.

“No, it’s fine. I just thought you wanted to make it to the bed, not have me fuck you blind against the ladder,” he said.

“I am rather fond of the ladder,” Ianto said as Jack pushed his shirt off.

“Maybe later,” Jack said, leaning down to take one of Ianto’s nipples into his mouth.

“Yessss,” Ianto hissed, his hand sliding into Jack’s hair to guide his head.

Jack wrapped one arm around Ianto’s waist to hold him close and steady, while his other hand reached up to tease his other nipple.

“Jack!” Ianto gasped, his head falling back to smack against a ladder rung. “Bed, please!”

Jack complied, straightening to capture Ianto’s mouth in a slow, passionate kiss as he turned the younger man and walked him over to the bed. He had missed this—laughter and passion and touch and stroke and Ianto.

Ianto stopped when the backs of his legs hit the side of the bed. Jack moved his mouth to Ianto’s neck, nipping and licking the places he remembered drove Ianto to distraction. Ianto buried his hands in Jack’s hair and gave himself over to the sensation of Jack’s teeth and tongue laying claim to his flesh. 

Jack slid his hands to Ianto’s waist. He quickly undid the belt, then unbuttoned and unzipped Ianto’s trousers. He slid his hands inside to push Ianto’s trousers and underwear down, his thumbs sliding across Ianto’s inner thighs.

“Gods, Jack,” Ianto sighed, his free hand sliding up under Jack’s t-shirt. “Please. Need to feel you against me.”

Jack helped Ianto step out of his remaining clothes and laid the younger man down on the bed. He stepped back and stared down at him, loving the way the warm light caressed Ianto’s pale skin.

“Jack,” Ianto whispered, holding out his hand.

Jack smiled and hurriedly stripped off his clothes before lying down beside Ianto.

Ianto turned onto his side and reached out to draw Jack closer. Jack leaned away, one hand on Ianto’s shoulder.

“Just—let me,” Jack whispered.

Ianto nodded and rolled onto his back, letting Jack have full access to his body. Jack propped himself up over Ianto and began to re-learn his lover’s body. He started at Ianto’s head, kissing him softly on the forehead, nose and cheeks. He teased Ianto’s mouth lightly with his own, then moved to nibble at his jaw. Ianto sighed and shifted as Jack kissed his way to his ear, nipping at the lobe before sucking it into his mouth. 

Ianto moaned, tilting his head to give Jack better access. Jack released Ianto’s earlobe and bit at the flesh just behind his ear, causing Ianto to gasp and arch his back. Jack chuckled, the sound and his warm breath causing Ianto to shiver. 

Jack continued his exploration, sinking his teeth into Ianto’s neck where the smooth column met his shoulder. Ianto groaned and dug his fingers into the mattress. “Please,” he gasped.

Jack smiled against Ianto’s skin, pleased when he pulled back to see he had left a mark. He slid one hand up to caress Ianto’s neck as he scraped Ianto’s collarbone with his teeth before moving down his torso. Jack rubbed his cheek against Ianto’s chest, reveling in the feel of his chest hair against his skin. His tongue slid out to tease a nipple, causing Ianto to shudder against him. Jack smiled, then moved his mouth to bite down gently on the other hardened nub.

“Jack!”

Chuckling, Jack slid down to Ianto’s stomach, dipping his tongue into Ianto’s navel as his hands caressed the younger man’s ribs. He propped himself up on his elbows and stared down at Ianto’s hips.

Ianto followed his gaze and reached out to caress Jack’s cheek. “It’s all right,” he whispered.

Jack leaned down and kissed each one of the scars he had caused on Ianto’s hips. Then he traced each hipbone with his tongue, causing Ianto to thrash lightly beneath him. He looked up at Ianto, whose head was thrown back on the pillow, then bit down on Ianto’s left hip bone.

Ianto shouted incoherently as he arched off the bed, nearly throwing Jack off him. “Oh, yes,” he finally managed as he fought to get his breathing under control.

Jack took Ianto’s thighs in his hands, sliding his legs further apart so he could settle between them. His thumbs caressed the soft skin on the inside of Ianto’s thighs as he took the head of Ianto’s cock into his mouth.

“Guh!” Ianto cried out, his hands going to Jack’s head. “No, don’t. I’ll come. I’ll come,” he pleaded.

With a last loving lick along the slit, Jack complied and slid up Ianto’s body to take his mouth in a passionate kiss. Ianto whimpered, having missed tasting himself, even a little, on Jack’s tongue. Jack moaned into the kiss, his hands gently caressing Ianto’s sides and chest as they languidly kissed.

Ianto tilted his head back to look into Jack’s eyes, gently tracing his cheekbones with his thumbs.

“Tell me what you need, Jack,” he whispered.

“I want you to make love to me. I need to feel you inside me. I need you; I need what we are together to be the only thing I know. I need to know it’s still real.”

“Always,” Ianto said fiercely. He took Jack’s mouth in a biting kiss, rolling him over and beneath him. “If you need to stop, you just tell me,” he whispered into Jack’s ear.

Jack nodded, then closed his eyes as Ianto turned his attention to his neck. He had almost forgotten the softness of Ianto’s lips, the slick heat of his tongue and the sharp scrape of his teeth. He gave himself over to it, letting himself enjoy being caressed and loved. He barely noticed the sounds coming out of his throat until he realized Ianto had stopped moving. He opened his eyes to see Ianto staring at him with amusement.

“More,” Jack said, then pulled Ianto’s head back down to his neck.

Ianto moved back and lowered his mouth to Jack’s chest, taking one of his nipples into his mouth and biting down without warning.

“Gods!” Jack hissed through his teeth. Ianto chuckled and continued his journey down Jack’s body. He paused to drag his teeth across Jack’s fourth rib, knowing that was an extremely sensitive spot for him. He soothed Jack’s shaking body with a soft kiss to his sternum before moving down to caress Jack’s navel with his tongue. He circled the dip in Jack’s flesh with the tip of his tongue before stroking down into his navel. Jack buried his hands in Ianto’s hair, guiding the younger man’s head down to his throbbing cock.

Ianto gladly allowed Jack to guide him, sliding his hands to Jack’s hips to hold him down. He knew from experience that Jack had a tendency to try to nearly fling him off the bed when he came in Ianto’s mouth. He slid his tongue across the weeping slit before swallowing Jack down completely.

“Ianto!” Jack cried out, his fingers digging into Ianto’s skull.

Ianto smiled around Jack’s cock, sliding his mouth up until only the head remained inside. He sucked the head hard, causing Jack’s hips to undulate beneath him. He slowly moved his head down, pressing his tongue against the pulsing vein on the underside of Jack’s cock. Ianto moved one of his hands from Jack’s hips to his balls, gently teasing them with light strokes and the occasional scrape of nail.

As Jack began gasping and muttering in a language unknown on Earth, Ianto began bobbing his head in earnest, hollowing his cheeks and humming as Jack’s cock slid in and out of his throat.

“Stop!” Jack shouted.

Ianto reared up, sitting back on his legs, not touching Jack at all. “It’s all right. You’re safe,” he said automatically.

Jack chuckled and rolled his head against the pillow. He reached out to caress Ianto’s hips. “No, I just…I need to come with you inside me.”

Ianto smiled and leaned back down, pressing his body tightly against Jack. He kissed him passionately, reaching out with one hand to fumble in the bedside drawer. Swearing, he pulled his mouth away from Jack’s so he could turn his head to see what he was doing. Jack leaned up on his elbows and began biting at Ianto’s throat. Ianto shuddered and nearly dropped the lube.

“Not helping,” Ianto gasped.

“Hmm,” Jack replied, his teeth still sunk into Ianto’s neck.

Ianto finally managed to get the lube out of the drawer and sank back down onto Jack. He nudged Jack away from his throat and looked into his eyes.

“How?” he asked.

Jack lifted his legs and wrapped them around Ianto’s waist. “Like this. I need to see you.”

Ianto nodded, then leaned down to kiss Jack gently. He continued slowly kissing Jack as he opened the lube and squirted some onto his fingers. He missed a dollop, which fell onto Jack’s stomach, causing him to shudder. Ianto gently wiped it away with his thumb, then slid his hand down to Jack’s entrance and began to slightly caress him. Jack tensed at the first touch, but then relaxed as Ianto continued to kiss him with passionate patience. Ianto slowly slid one finger into him and let it rest there as he felt Jack get used to him. He pulled away from the kiss and began to kiss and lick Jack’s neck, biting gently onto his Adam’s apple as he slid a second finger into him. Jack hissed and clutched at Ianto’s shoulders, but he didn’t push him away. Ianto moved his mouth and bit the top of Jack’s shoulder as he slid a third finger in. He began moving his fingers, preparing Jack in a way he knew brought the older man the most pleasure. Jack whimpered as he brushed against his prostate.

“Please, Ianto,” he gasped.

Ianto nodded and removed his hand. He slicked his erection, then reached for Jack’s thigh, pulling his leg up and around his waist to give him better access. He leaned forward and kissed Jack softly.

“I love you,” he whispered against Jack’s mouth as he began to push into his body.

Jack’s hands dug into Ianto’s arse as he arched against him, pushing himself down onto Ianto’s cock.

“Let me,” Ianto breathed, smoothing Jack’s hair back off his forehead.

Jack nodded and closed his eyes, turning himself over to Ianto’s body.

Ianto set up a slow, steady rhythm, withdrawing until only the tip of his cock was in Jack’s body, then pushing back in with a single slow, powerful thrust. Jack pulled Ianto tight against him, rubbing his cock against Ianto’s stomach.

“Harder, Ianto. Please,” he begged, looking into Ianto’s eyes.

Ianto nodded and lifted Jack’s legs over his shoulders. He began pounding into his lover, one hand wrapped around Jack’s cock and the other holding Jack’s hand, their fingers laced together. He began stroking Jack’s cock in time with his thrusts: hard and fast.

“Gonna come,” Jack panted.

“Look at me,” Ianto demanded.

Jack opened his lust-blown eyes and stared up at Ianto. He held the gaze until he felt his orgasm overtake him. He closed his eyes and screamed, the sound shaking the room. Ianto laughed with joy as Jack convulsed around him, knowing his lover had finally come back to him. Squeezing Jack’s hand, he emptied himself into his lover with a cry of his own.

“I love you,” Jack whispered as Ianto collapsed against him.

Ianto remained pressed against Jack, feeling their hearts return to a normal rhythm. Once he could breathe again, he carefully slid out of Jack’s body. He felt Jack shudder at the loss and pressed a soft kiss against his lips. He rolled onto his side, resting his head on Jack’s shoulder and drawing random patterns on Jack’s chest as he drifted toward sleep.

Jack laid there with Ianto, his body and soul completely sated. He smiled softly.

“Ianto,” he whispered.

“Hmm?”

“I’ve come home.”

Ianto sighed and pressed his face against Jack’s throat.

“I know.”

Jack laughed softly and settled against Ianto, drifting off to sleep in the safety and comfort of his lover’s arms.  
∞∞∞∞∞∞  
  
 **Just this once, grace is built from freedom and love, instead of horror and blood and pain like usual.  
~Jacob Clifton**

**_END PART I_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So ends Part I. I promise it will not be forever and a year before I start uploading Part II.


	34. Admittance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we move to nine weeks after Jack “came home”. Now the fun really starts. And the angst. And did I mention angst?

**_PART II_  
Chapter 34—Admittance**

_Nine Weeks Later_  
Jack smiled into the phone. “Nope. Sorry, can’t.”

“Jack, if you don’t get your arse down here, you’re cut off for a month,” Ianto hissed into the phone.

“You wouldn’t last a week,” he replied, propping his feet up on his desk.

“Care to test that theory?”

Jack thought about it. He really didn’t. He knew Ianto would make every moment of that month a living hell. A teasing, tantalizing, sexually frustrating living hell. He decided to try another line of logic.

“Ianto, I’m staying here keeping an eye on the Rift so the lot of you can go and have a night out together.”

“You promised you wouldn’t leave me alone with them at karaoke again. I have it in writing!”

“I’m pretty sure a promise written down the fly of your boxers in red marker does not constitute a binding contract.”

“Two months,” Ianto growled.

Jack laughed. “Okay, okay. Give me ten minutes to set things up here and I’ll be—”

His computer beeped and he turned his head to read the screen.

“Holy shit,” he said into the phone, his feet dropping down on to the floor with a thud.

“Jack? What’s wrong?” Ianto asked.

“Ianto, get everyone back here. Tell Owen to have Autopsy prepared for any trauma he can think of.”

“What’s going on?”

“I’ll explain later. Get everyone here. Now,” he said, then hung up. 

He leaned forward and rubbed his eyes before looking at the screen again. It couldn’t be…but there it was.

**_*****ROSE TYLER ADMITTED TO CARDIFF A &E*****_ **


	35. Run Now, Explain Later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jack goes to Cardiff A&E and the surprises just keep on coming.

**Chapter 35—Run Now, Explain Later**  
Jack strolled through the doors of the A&E and up to the admittance desk. He smiled at the young woman behind the desk. He’d met her a few times. Sally, Sarah, Susan…something with an S.

“Hi there. I need to see a patient you admitted a short while ago,” he said.

“Are you family?” she asked.

“No.”

“Business, then?”

Jack nodded. “Afraid so.”

“Whom do you need?”

Normally, Jack would have flirted shamelessly with the young woman. But not tonight. “Rose Tyler,” he choked out.

“Ah,” she replied.

“‘ Ah’?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“She isn’t the easiest of patients. One of our interns found her in the alley. He was sneaking out for a smoke break. She didn’t want to come in, but she was weak so he managed to bring her in so we could look at her. She needed stitches to a gash on her forehead and had a lot of bruises. Some scarring—old and new,” she said, looking intently at him. 

Jack had paled considerably and was fighting back a wave of nausea. Not his Rose.

“She was a very difficult patient. She didn’t want to be admitted and refused to give us anything other than her name. We figured we would let the police handle it, but I hadn’t gotten around to calling them yet. We had the wounded from a wedding brawl come in.”

“Why were you going to call the police?”

“Because of the gunshot wound.”

“What?!” Jack exploded. 

The nurse stood up. “It was a straight through-and-through, but she lost a lot of blood. Looked like she had been traveling with it for a while.”

“I need to see her. Torchwood will be taking over her case.”

“Fine. It’ll save me a call to the police.” She signaled another nurse over to take her place at the desk, then came around to lead Jack away.

They finally paused outside of the door to a room. Jack could tell there were no lights on inside.

“See me on the way out for the paperwork,” the nurse said, then left him.

Jack nodded and took a moment to steel himself, then opened the door and stepped inside. He could barely make out a figure lying under the covers in the bed. As the door closed behind him, he caught something moving in the corner of his eye and he reached out to grab it.

The IV stand stopped two inches from his hand.

“Jack?”

Jack paused and looked at his would-be assailant. A large piece of gauze covered her forehead and she had obviously changed out of the hospital gown and back into her own clothes.

“It took you long enough!” she said, setting the stand down.

Jack shook his head and looked again.

“Elle?”

“Yeah. Sorry about the name; I couldn’t use my own and I hoped you’d be keeping an eye out for it.”

“But…Elle? Why aren’t you in Greece?”

“Why would I be in Greece? You know what, never mind. We need to get out of here before—”

She was cut off by the sound of commotion in the hallway.

“Great. As if I haven’t crawled through enough windows today,” she said, then reached past him to lock the door.

“What the hell is going on?” Jack asked as she walked to the window and opened it. 

“Can you get this screen out?” she asked.

He walked over and kicked the screen out. “After you,” he said.

“Give me a boost, will you? I got shot today.”

He helped her out of the window.

“Friends of yours?” Jack asked as the door to the room they had just left exploded.

“Run now, explain later,” she said, grabbing his hand.

They sprinted to the SUV and climbed inside. Jack froze as Elle adjusted the oversized coat she was wearing and buckled her seatbelt.

“Um, Elle?”

“Still running, Jack. And I really only want to have to explain this once.”

“But—”

“Jack! All you have to know right now is that Torchwood 4 is after me and we need to get inside the Hub so we can jam the tracker. Got it?”

Jack missed the last part of her sentence as the SUV roared to life.

Torchwood 4 was back.

_Fuck._


	36. Introductions All Around

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jack brings Elle back to the Hub to meet the team.

**Chapter 36—Introductions All Around**  
“Well, where is he, then? I almost had Tosh drunk enough to sing Britney Spears,” Owen moaned, flopping into his desk chair.

“There is not enough alcohol in the world, Owen,” Tosh replied, giggling. Then she hiccupped and thought maybe that third Sweet Tart hadn’t been the best idea. She glared at the IV attached to her arm; this Banana Bag thing was not doing what Owen had promised. At least, not as quickly as she would have liked.

“Owen, is Autopsy ready?” Ianto said, wondering not for the first time if they should build a separate medical bay for living patients.

“As it will ever be,” Owen replied.

“Are you ready?” Ianto asked.

“I only had one drink. I’m fine,” he replied.

“Where’s Gwen?” Ianto asked, looking around.

“Raiding the cupboards. She got the munchies,” Tosh replied.

They all turned as the alarms went off and the cog door rolled open.

“Jack, really, I can walk,” they heard a woman’s voice say.

Ianto froze in place.

“You’ve had a long day. You shouldn’t have to,” he replied.

“Oh? Do you carry all your employees like this when they’ve had a long day?”

“You’re not my employee.”

Owen watched as an attractive woman with auburn hair and a large bandage on her forehead struggled to free herself from Jack’s arms. Jack reluctantly set her down.

“Oi, Harkness! What is this? Bringing wounded birds home now?” Owen asked. “I thought we didn’t bring our dates to the Hub for show and tell.”

He was startled when Ianto rushed forward to embrace the woman. She hugged him back tightly, burying her face in his neck.

“Wait, she’s with Ianto?” Owen asked as Ianto stepped back to take a closer look at the woman. “You pulled _that_?”

“Don’t make me kill you,” Elle said, looking at the doctor.

“Tosh, Gwen, Owen, meet Elle. She used to work at Torchwood One. She’s a friend,” Jack said, emphasizing the last sentence.

“Why aren’t you in Greece?” Ianto asked her.

“Why does everyone think I’m supposed to be in Greece?” she asked.

“Come on, let’s get Owen to take a look at you. We can do explanations then,” Jack asked, steering her toward Autopsy.

“You can talk and walk, Jack,” she said.

“Ianto got your e-mail about going to Greece to visit your family,” Jack explained.

Elle stopped dead. “And that didn’t tip you off that something was wrong? I don’t visit my family; I barely even speak to them.”

“The e-mail said your grandfather had died and you had to go take care of family business,” Ianto said.

“Pops died a year ago, Ianto.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“And here I thought you knew everything,” Owen said as he reached for his stethoscope.

Jack smacked him on the back of the head.

“All right, Elle, if you will just shed that coat and hop up on the table, we’ll have a look at you.”

She looked up at Gwen and Tosh, who were leaning on the railing, then at Jack and Ianto, who were standing beside her. Jack nodded at her, taking Ianto’s hand.

She pulled off the coat and set it to the side, then gingerly climbed up on the table.

Ianto’s eyes widened at the bump under her jumper. 

“Congratulations. It’s a girl,” Elle said brightly, her eyes nervous.

Jack squeezed Ianto’s hand tightly. “Elle, where’s the tracker?”

“Under the skin in the back of my neck,” she replied.

“Right. Owen, I need you to remove the tracker, then see to the bullet wound in her left arm,” he said, nodding at the blood-soaked sleeve. “They treated her at the A&E, but I want you to double-check it. You two,” he said, calling up to Gwen and Tosh, “call a cab or call Rhys and go home. I’ll need you back first thing in the morning.”

“But Jack,” Gwen protested around a mouth full of crisps.

“I know. I was expecting something different to be coming in here. I’ll brief you in the morning. Please.”

Tosh nodded and pulled Gwen away.

Owen hurried up the steps, cotton swab in hand, and removed the IV from Tosh’s arm. He pressed the swab against her skin and bent her elbow. “Drink a lot of water when you get home,” he said softly.

She nodded and followed Gwen out into the main part of the Hub. Owen trotted back down the steps.

“I can try to find a smock or something,” Owen said.

Elle shook her head. “No need. Ianto, could you help me with the jumper?”

Ianto stepped forward and Owen turned his back, getting the supplies he’d need to extract the tracker. With a bit of struggle, they got the jumper off. Ianto winced when he saw the bandage on Elle’s arm; it was bloody.

Elle followed his gaze. “Ah. When the medical staff said I should take it easy, they probably meant I shouldn’t go climbing through windows.”

“Right, lie down on your side Elle and we’ll get that tracker out,” Owen said, coming over to the table with a syringe in his hand.

“That won’t be necessary,” she said, nodding at the syringe.

“It’s just a local for the area; it won’t hurt the baby,” Owen said.

“Still, it’s unnecessary.”

“Now look here, I’m the doctor and—”

“Owen!” Jack interrupted. “Not worth it,” he said, shaking his head when Owen finally looked at him.

Owen shrugged and waited for Elle to lie down, then quickly removed the small tracking device and bandaged Elle’s neck. He handed it over to Jack as Ianto helped Elle sit up.

Jack looked at the tracker, then disappeared into the main part of the Hub. He went into his office and opened his safe. He pulled out a “dead box”—a nifty bit of tech Tosh had developed which cancelled out the signal of any tracking or listening device. He dropped the tracker inside and closed the lid, then hurried back to Autopsy.

Owen had just finished cleaning and re-stitching Elle’s wound when Jack arrived.

“All right,” Owen said, peeling off his gloves and dropping them in the bin. “Now for a quick check of your vitals and the little one’s and I’ll leave you three to it.”

Elle nodded and submitted to the blood pressure cuff and the ice-cold stethoscope. Jack adjusted the table so Elle could lean back and be upright. Owen spread some ultrasound gel on her stomach, then ran the ultrasound wand over her belly. The screen showed a gently moving fetus. Owen turned up the sound and they could hear the rapid, steady heartbeat. Elle closed her eyes, tears of relief flowing down her face. Jack and Ianto stood transfixed by the image on the monitor. Owen printed out a picture of the fetus, then turned off the machine and wiped the gel off Elle’s stomach.

“Looks to be about four months along?” Owen questioned.

“Four and a half, give or take,” Elle said, opening her eyes. Ianto tucked a blanket around her, leaving her left hand free so he could hold it.

“I’ll work up a prenatal schedule for you first thing in the morning. For now, get plenty of rest and fluids; you’ve had a rough day,” Owen said, then left Autopsy.

Jack waited until he heard the cog door open and close. “What’s going on?” he finally asked, taking her right hand.

“We’re having a baby,” she replied.

Jack looked up at Ianto, wishing, and not for the first time, that he could read the younger man’s expression.

Elle caught the look and squeezed their hands until they looked at her. 

“The _three_ of us.”


	37. Huhbuwhat?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Elle explains the whole “three” thing and we learn more about Torchwood 4. Jack does not like what he hears.

**Chapter 37—Huhbuwhat?**  
Jack goggled. “‘Three?’ Okay, my 21st century biology may be rusty, but isn’t it, well, a two-person process?” he asked, pulling his hand free of Elle’s to run both hands through his hair.

“You didn’t add in the Torchwood factor,” Elle replied.

“And Torchwood 4’s specialty was biologics,” Ianto breathed.

Jack closed his eyes. “The things I didn’t know about Torchwood until I got involved with the two of you.” He opened eyes to see similar half smiles on Ianto’s and Elle’s faces. “And _that_ is creepy, so just stop it.”

Elle chuckled, her free hand caressing her abdomen.

“Okay. Tell me about Torchwood 4,” Jack said, looking at Ianto.

“Founded the same time as Torchwood 1, originally as an off-site arm of 1. They eventually became their own independent branch, under the leadership of…” Ianto trailed off, his eyes wide.

“Who, Ianto?” Jack asked.

“Reginald Guppy,” Ianto finished.

“Guppy? As in Alice Guppy?” Jack asked.

“I’d have to check the exact trail of the genealogy, but yes,” Ianto replied. “Torchwood is often a family business.”

“Figures.” Jack shook himself. “What else?”

“Four years ago, they disappeared. Yvonne was furious. She relied heavily on a lot of their research,” Elle continued.

“So they did disappear on purpose. It wasn’t some random accident or unexplained phenomena,” Jack said.

“Oh, they planned it all right. Only took a skeleton crew when they left. The best of the best,” Elle said. “And they took all their research and pertinent samples with them.”

“So why is Torchwood 4 back? Why now?” Jack asked her.

“They discovered something making exposure an acceptable risk,” she explained.

“What?”

“The two of you happened,” Ianto said.

Jack looked Ianto in the eye and found no malice. “That was only two months ago. Elle said herself that the baby is four and half months old.”

“Torchwood 4,” Ianto reminded him.

“If the two of you are done, I could tell you what happened. I mean, this drama is incredibly interesting, but I’m rather tired,” Elle said.

“And cranky,” Ianto commented.

“Hormones. I’d kill for a banana milkshake.”

“Focus, kids,” Jack said.

“All right,” Elle said, shifting to get comfortable. “Seven weeks ago, I spent the morning with my head in the toilet for the third day in a row. I thought it was time to go to the chemist or the doctor.”

“You chose the chemist,” Ianto said.

“How do you know?” Jack asked.

“She hates the doctor,” Ianto replied.

“ _She_ is right here. Yes, I went to the chemist. The test came back positive.”

“Then what happened?”

“I took a few days. I knew I’d have to tell you. I didn’t know how. I mean, you and I—you and Ianto—”

“It’s all right, Elle. Jack and I have talked,” Ianto said, taking her hand.

“Oh, good. Right.”

Jack ran a hand over her hair. “What happened?”

She smiled. “I was leaving my house to come to the Tourist Office to meet you guys. It was stupid, really. I got complacent. They grabbed me two blocks from my house. I managed to lock down my place remotely and take two of them out before they knocked me out. I woke up in a hospital room, restrained on the bed.”

Ianto squeezed her hand. “It all makes sense so far. Except for the fact that the baby belongs to all three of us.”

“You said it yourself, Ianto: 4’s expertise was biologics. They doctored the baby’s DNA,” she said, rubbing her stomach.

“How did they get my DNA?” Ianto asked.

“Ianto, what did you do on your first day at Torchwood 1?” Elle asked.

“Filled out all the paperwork, went through security briefings, took tests and…had a full Torchwood physical.”

“Really?” Jack asked, smiling. “What did you—”

“Not now,” Ianto admonished.

“Right. Task at hand.”

“I am not a bloody _task_!” Elle nearly shouted.

Jack and Ianto looked at her, startled.

“Sorry. Hormones.”

“All right. So they had Ianto’s…sample. What about you?” Jack asked.

She shook her head. “Always dodged it. Couldn’t take a chance they’d find out about me.”

“They did somehow,” Jack pointed out.

“They did,” she agreed.

“What did they do?” Ianto asked softly.

“I’m not sure. They talked around me a lot. They were very excited about ‘the ramifications of the experiment’. There was a lot of technobabble I didn’t understand.”

“Experiment?” Jack asked.

“A baby of Jack Harkness’—the only one in known existence. Add to that my inability to feel pain and Ianto’s eidetic memory and you’ve got…”

“The perfect soldier,” Jack finished. “Son of a bitch.”

Ianto sat down on the bed beside Elle. “Did they hurt you?”

“No,” Elle said.

“You’re lying,” Ianto replied.

“Doesn’t matter. The baby’s fine. We’re here and we’re safe.”

“Where is Torchwood 4?” Jack asked.

“Alternate universe, near as I can tell. They have wormhole technology. That’s how they got me there and that’s how I got back.”

Ianto nodded. “That would explain why two months passed here and four and half passed there.”

Elle went completely still.

“Elle?” Jack asked.

“They sped up the baby’s growth. They wanted it to be born as soon as possible. They were afraid I’d find a way to escape,” she said, giving them a small smile.

Jack pressed a kiss to her forehead. “They were right to expect that.”

“Once Secure Archives, always Secure Archives,” Elle said, smiling.

“We need to call Owen and have him come back in here. We need to find out what they did to you and the baby.”

“I can help you with that. There’s a flash drive in my boot. I uploaded everything they had on us before I left. Including the formula for the daily injections they’ve been giving me.”

Ianto nodded and moved down to remove her boots. He found the flash drive. “I’ll just take this upstairs and start copying.”

“Don’t put it on Mainframe until Tosh can make sure there aren’t any viruses,” Jack said.

“Right,” Ianto said, then disappeared upstairs.

“Let’s find you somewhere to sleep tonight. I’m sure Ianto has something made up here somewhere.”

She grabbed his wrist. “You have to protect this baby, Jack. They will do anything to get her back.”

“You’re safe here,” he said, cupping her face in his hands. “Owen and Tosh will figure out the science and we’ll do everything to take care of you and the baby. Whatever they’ve done to you, we’ll take care of it. It’ll be all right.”

“Jack…”

“What?”

“Don’t tell Ianto.”

“Tell him what?”

She bit her lip and looked up at him. “Sometimes…it _hurts_.”


	38. Decryption

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Tosh and Owen return to the Hub to help Jack while Ianto and Elle deal with Torchwood 4’s interference.

**Chapter 38—Decryption**  
“Um, slight problem,” Ianto said, reappearing in Autopsy.

“Yes?” Jack asked, looking up.

“Elle, you copied all the files, but they’re encrypted.”

Elle flashed him a quick smile as Jack helped her off the exam table. “Ianto, are you telling me you can’t recognize and snap a basic Secure Archives encryption?”

“I could, but if you would give up the password, it would save considerable time,” he replied, eyebrow quirked.

“All right, all right. Get me to the computer,” she said, moving up the stairs quickly and with a grace that belied her pregnancy.

“Did you call Owen?” Jack asked as he followed them into the main area of the Hub.

“I did. He’ll be in soon, with Tosh.”

“How long did he bitch?”

“About 45 seconds before I mentioned Torchwood 4 and funky biology.”

Jack stopped. “Wait, did you actually use the word ‘funky’?”

Ianto turned and smiled. “Yes, I did.”

“You used the word ‘funky’ in a sentence and I missed it?”

“Priorities, Jack.”

“Yeah, but—”

“Jack, let him make it up to you later,” Elle said from in front of Tosh’s computer. “This is gorgeous,” she said. “Ianto told me she was partly alien tech, but he didn’t mention how beautiful she was.”

“He was probably afraid you’d want to come in and play with her,” Jack said.

Elle shook her head. “I only know enough computer skills to get me in and out of trouble. This is…beyond me would be a good start.”

“The files?” Ianto prompted, leaning around her to pull up the encryption screen.

“You’re opening that with proper firewa—sorry,” he finished when he caught Ianto’s glare.

They paused as the cog door opened behind them to reveal Owen and Tosh.

“You, downstairs for a full medical work-up,” he said, pointing at Elle.

“In a minute,” she replied, waving a hand at him.

Tosh hurried over to see what they were doing to Mainframe.

Elle typed a few keystrokes and a query box opened:

**ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO RUN GOOD SHEPHERD?**

“Oh, yes,” Elle breathed, hitting the appropriate key. She stepped back to allow Tosh access as multiple files popped up.

“Owen, you’re going to want to look at this medical history,” Jack said.

“Send it to my station and I’ll start printing it out,” the doctor replied.

“Tosh, make sure there are no viruses or other hidden surprises before sending out that information,” Jack said.

“Done. Where should we start?” she asked Elle.

“Send the medical files to Owen. The tech files are what you’ll want to look at to understand, well, everything.”

“And the observation files?” Jack asked.

Elle shifted uncomfortably. “Owen may need to look at them, but there shouldn’t be anything in there that’s not already covered in the medical entries.”

“All right,” Jack said, catching her eye. He swallowed hard when she nodded. Those files would contain observations about her reactions to the pregnancy. It was bound to disclose that she was sometimes in pain. It was not something she would want Ianto to see.

“Come on, you. Down for a full work-up. Do you want the daddies present?” Owen asked.

“Actually, I wanted Ianto to start fixing one of the crash rooms up. You’re going to be here a while and we want you comfortable,” Jack interrupted.

“You’re not getting to see the baby without me,” Ianto protested.

“I am going to be checking our blueprints and security systems. Tosh is going to help me, aren’t you, Tosh?”

“Um-hm,” Tosh replied distantly.

“You’re on your own, Jack. That’s Tosh’s patented ‘I’m in Computer Orgasm Territory and I’m Not Coming Out’ response,” Owen said as he led Elle downstairs.

Jack stood watching Tosh until Ianto elbowed him.

“What?” Jack said.

“What are you doing?” Ianto asked.

“I’ve always wondered what that particular look meant. Now I’m wondering what else puts that expression on her face.”


	39. Examinations and Explanations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Owen begins going over Elle’s medical history at Torchwood 4 as the rest of the team gets the Hub ready for a new visitor.

**Chapter 39—Examinations and Explanations**  
“All right, Elle, I have a rather undignified smock for you to wear while we do this,” Owen said, moving over to a cabinet.

“Remember when we met and I told you to not make me kill you?” she asked.

Owen laughed. “It’s either that or sitting around in your dainties while we do this. Not that I would mind.”

She shrugged. “It’ll save time once you start asking questions about my medical care,” she said, nearly spitting the last two words. She reached for the tie on her sweats, then paused. “I trust you have enough to keep you busy at your terminal so I don’t have to worry about you doing any ogling? Just because I don’t mind sitting in my dainties doesn’t mean I want you watching while I strip.”

“I make no promises.”

“I can kill you at least five different ways with just my index finger.”

“You’re a violent woman,” he said, retrieving the medical files Tosh had sent over to his printer.

She snorted and shook her head. Owen studiously busied himself while she slid out of her sweats and lifted herself up onto the exam table. “All right, Dr. Harper. I’m ready now.”

Owen turned to look at her. “For the record, distracting me with death threats is nothing new. Ianto beat you to it,” he said, walking over to her. 

“Technically, it ceases to be a threat once he actually shoots you,” she replied.

“Point. Now, I want you to go over with me the daily routine at Torchwood 4. You said there were daily injections.”

“Yes,” she said, and held her arm out to him. The inside of her arm was covered in bruises and scars.

Owen made a note on his clipboard. “I’ll get you some vitamin E for that. It should help. I promise, my touch will be much lighter.”

She shrugged. “I mostly don’t feel it.”

“Mostly?”

“I have this fun little genetic quirk. I don’t feel pain. At least, not until a month ago. Now, I’ve started feeling the pain.”

“How bad is it?”

“I’ll live.”

“I can give you something for it.”

She shook her head. “We don’t know what it might do to her, with their tinkering. I won’t put her at risk.”

“Don’t you trust my expertise? By the time I’m done reviewing all the data you’ve given us, I’ll find a way to relieve your pain without hurting the baby.”

“You sound rather confident.”

“I’m that good, I’ll have you know!”

“We’ll see, won’t we?”

Owen snorted and continued with his visual observations. “A lot of these scars are new,” he said, noting the freshly healed wounds on her lower legs. 

“Yes.”

Owen sighed. “Look, if I’m going to help you, you need to tell me everything.”

“It’s all in those files.”

“Right. Never been one for the whole book. More of a Cliffs Notes bloke.”

Elle took a deep breath. “They wanted to know what responses were caused by which injuries. So they had a baseline for the baby. They’ve pulled themselves back a bit lately.”

“Why is that?” Owen asked, making notes.

“I started screaming.”  
****

“What have you found, Tosh?” Jack asked, leaning over her shoulder.

“I would love to get my hands on their tech,” she replied without looking at him.

“Funny, I was thinking the same thing about their necks,” he said, folding his arms over his chest.

Tosh blushed faintly. “Right, sorry. Do you want to know how they did it?”

“Not particularly. Can you and Owen make sure she and the baby stay healthy?”

“Shouldn’t be a problem. I’m more worried about our security,” she said, switching screens. “Here are the areas we should address first.”

Jack nodded as he looked over the plans. “How did you choose these?”

“I asked Ianto. He said they’re the points he’d aim for.”

“Good. When she’s done with Owen, have Elle go over the plans, too. Also, add the south entry on sub-level six and the east ducts in sub-level ten.”

Tosh nodded and tapped away at her keyboard. 

“Have you seen Ianto recently?” he asked.

“He gave me his suggestions and then disappeared in the direction of the crash rooms. I can track him on CCTV.”

“No, keep doing what you’re doing. I can find him,” he said before leaving her to her work.

Jack stopped at the entry to Autopsy. “How’s it going down there?”

“Almost done. Tell Ianto to hurry up with those sleeping arrangements,” Owen replied.

“And for the love of god, someone get me something to eat!” Elle added.

Jack walked to the top of the stairs. “Any requests?”

“That banana milkshake I asked for eight hours ago.”

“It wasn’t that long ago, cranky pants,” Jack replied.

She turned her head and narrowed her eyes at him. “The list of Torchwood men I need to kill is getting longer.”

Jack swallowed the chuckle rising in his throat. “All right. Doctor, what would you recommend?”

“Well, seeing as she hasn’t eaten all day, we should give her something completely healthy, nothing that will upset her delicate stom—”

“ _Five_ different ways,” she reminded him.

Owen laughed. “I’m the doctor here. You are the patient. Deal with it.” He turned to Jack. “Go find teaboy. I’ll take care of dinner.”

Jack nodded and went off in search of his lover.  
****

Ianto was trying his best to make the room he’d chosen more “homey”. The placement was perfect—a short distance from Jack’s quarters and near a large room that would make a perfect medical bay. His next order of business would be enlisting Owen’s help to get the medical bay up to specs and ready for the baby’s arrival. 

He paused as the enormity of the situation slammed into him yet again. A baby. His baby. Elle’s baby. Jack’s baby. It should have been mind-boggling. Instead, it was par for the course for his life these days. The elation and sheer terror of impending fatherhood washed over him. How would they safely raise a baby in Torchwood? Would they scar her forever by raising her in this environment? Would Elle want to stay here? _Could_ she and the baby be safe staying here? What did Jack think about all this? He knew what losing him had done to Jack. What would happen to Jack if they lost the baby? What would _he_ do if they lost the baby?

“You know, I can almost hear your thoughts,” Jack said from the doorway.

Ianto stiffened and straightened. “Only almost?” he asked without turning.

“Well, there are so many thoughts flying through your mind, it’s hard to grab just one,” he replied, walking over to take Ianto in his arms.

“And you know thoughts are flying how?”

“Your shoulders are frowning.”

“What?” Ianto asked, turning in Jack’s arms.

“When you have a lot on your mind, your shoulders slump. It’s almost like a frown.”

Ianto just shook his head and smiled.

Jack kissed him on the forehead, then stepped back. “How’s the room coming?”

“I appropriated some pillows and blankets from your room. I’m hoping to get over to her house tomorrow to pick up some of her things.”

“I don’t want you going there by yourself.”

“Jack…”

“Ianto, I don’t want you going there at all. But because I respect you and don’t want to sleep on the couch for the next six months, I’m saying that I don’t want you to go by yourself. See how grown up I’m being?”

Ianto smiled. “Fine. I’ll take Gwen with me.”

“All right. Come on, Owen said he’d order dinner and then we have to make Elle go to bed.”

“That’ll be fun,” Ianto said, moving to step past him.

Jack took his arm. “Ianto, are we okay?” he asked softly.

“Of course. Why wouldn’t we be?”

“I meant what I said before: what happened between Elle and I was a one-time thing. It doesn’t have anything to do with how I feel about you. It doesn’t have anything to do with what we are. I love you. I want to be with you.”

Ianto sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “I know, Jack. Please stop thinking I’m so insecure that you have to reassure me at every turn.”

“But now there’s a baby.”

“And it belongs to all of us. So we work together. Didn’t you tell me triads are more common where you’re from?”

“Yes, but—”

“Do you love Elle?”

“Yes.”

“Good. So do I. We will find a way to make this work.”

Jack just shook his head, still surprised at the depths of this man.

“Our daughter is going to have the strangest family ever; but she will never doubt that she is loved. And she will never doubt that her parents are committed to her and each other,” Ianto said.

“It’s a good thing I’m going to live forever.”

Ianto raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“I’m going to need that time to be worthy of you.”

Ianto rolled his eyes.

“What?”

“You could have warned me that impending parenthood makes you soppy.”

“I’ll show you soppy, Ianto Jones,” Jack replied, pulling him tight against him.

Ianto kissed him softly. “Later. We have more important things to do right now.”

“I’m going to hold you to that.”


	40. Team Bonding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Elle has her first dinner with Team Torchwood.

**Chapter 40—Team Bonding**  
By the time Jack and Ianto returned to the main part of the Hub, Elle was wearing a pair of scrubs and sitting on the couch with a blanket tucked around her. She was watching Myfanwy fly in circles, coming down close for the occasional look at the newcomer.

“She’s not quite sure about me yet,” Elle said.

“Give her time. She’s warmed up to just about everybody,” Jack said, sitting beside her.

“If she warms up to Elle before she warms up to Gwen, I think Gwen will cry,” Tosh said, appearing from the kitchenette. She handed Elle a cup of tea.

“Caffeine’s bad for—” Jack began.

“Herbal,” Tosh said, pulling her chair up to join them.

“Are you going to be like this the whole time?” Elle asked Jack, smiling.

“You missed it; a few minutes ago, he was downright soppy,” Ianto said, sitting on Elle’s other side.

“Really?” she asked, curling up against Ianto.

“I was being romantic,” Jack protested. 

“It’s a fine line between romantic and soppy,” Tosh offered.

“Yes, and we all know how good Jack is with lines. And boundaries. And labels.”

Elle laughed softly, then yawned.

“I have a semi-comfy bed all made up for you,” Ianto said, nudging her lightly.

“Nope. If I don’t give the baby something to eat before I go to bed, she’ll have me up all night.”

“Not even born and already taking after Jack,” Ianto sighed.

“Hey!”

“Owen should be down soon with the takeaway,” Tosh said, glancing over her shoulder at the CCTV feed.

“Is he upstairs alone?” Jack said, standing.

“Don’t worry. He’s tracking the delivery kid on CCTV and he’s armed. It’s fine, Jack,” Tosh said.

“Besides, you let Gwen go home,” Ianto said.

“That’s because I wasn’t thinking straight. Did she—?” 

Tosh nodded. “I tracked her all the way home. She’s probably curled up in bed with Rhys right now.”

“Good.”

They turned as the alarms went off and the cog door rolled back.

“Dinner is served,” Owen said, holding up the takeaway bags.  
****

“Gwen will be sorry she missed this,” Jack said as he stretched.

Ianto raised an eyebrow at him. “What? Owen reading medical labs, Tosh working on security weaknesses and Elle snoring after stuffing her face?”

Jack smiled at Elle, who was curled up on the couch, her head resting on Ianto’s thigh. She was, indeed, snoring softly. “It’s kind of a team bonding experience and Gwen is missing it.”

“Elle’s going to be here a while, Jack. Gwen will get plenty of time to bond,” Ianto assured him.

“How long do you think it’ll take Elle to threaten Gwen with bodily harm if she tries hugging her again?” 

“Three days,” Tosh said from her computer.

“Two,” Jack countered.

“Eighteen hours,” Owen called from his computer.

Jack looked at Ianto.

“Out loud or in her head?” Ianto asked.

“Out loud.”

“Six hours, max,” Ianto replied.

“Put your money where your mouth is, teaboy,” Owen said, fishing a tenner out of his pocket.

“My wallet isn’t exactly accessible right now,” he replied.

“I’ll cover you,” Jack said, grinning at Ianto.

Tosh took the money from Jack, added her own, then locked it all into a drawer in her desk.

“We should get her tucked in,” Ianto said to Jack, gesturing at Elle.

Jack nodded and gently lifted Elle’s head as Ianto slid out from under her. Ianto turned and lifted her into his arms and started off for the room he’d prepared.

“Jack, we need to talk about the test results,” Owen said softly once Ianto was out of earshot.

“All right. I’ll see if I can’t convince Ianto to get some sleep himself, then we can talk.”

“He won’t like that,” Tosh warned from her desk.

“Not my decision,” Jack said, shaking his head. “Elle doesn’t want him to know.”

“He’s going to be pissed when he finds out we all knew and he didn’t. Rightly so, too,” Tosh said.

Jack sighed. “Look, we’ll go over the results and then I’ll tell Ianto in private, okay?”

Tosh looked mutinous for a moment, then nodded. She knew Jack would be able to deliver the news more gently than Owen ever could.

“Thank you,” Jack said, then turned to follow Ianto.  
****

Ianto tucked Elle into the bed, then brushed her hair back off her face. He watched her try to roll over onto her stomach, then flop back onto her back with a sigh.

Jack joined him a moment later, slipping an arm around Ianto’s waist.

“We have got to get a more comfortable bed in here,” Jack said softly.

“It’s on my list,” Ianto replied, resting his head on Jack’s shoulder.

“Why don’t you get some sleep in my room? I have to go over a few things with Owen and Tosh before I kick them out for the night. I’ll join you soon.”

Ianto shook his head. “I’m going to stay in here,” he said, pointing at the arm chair in the corner.

“We can have the CCTV feed go to my office; we’ll know if she gets up or needs anything.”

Ianto straightened and stretched. “No, someone should be in here with her.” He turned his head and met Jack’s eyes with a piercing gaze. “In case she starts having nightmares about what they did to her.”


	41. And the Good News Is...?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Ianto and Jack have it out, and Owen gives them potentially devastating news. Not a happy chapter.

**Chapter 41—And the Good News Is…?**  
“Ianto…” Jack began.

“I’m trying to figure out if you think I’m that fragile or that stupid,” Ianto said, his tone low but harsh.

“Ianto, I don’t—” he fell silent as Elle murmured in her sleep.

“Not in here,” Ianto hissed.

Jack nodded. He used his wrist strap to turn on the CCTV and send the feed to Tosh’s computer. Then he followed Ianto out of the room, waiting while the younger man closed the door gently behind them.

Ianto waited until they were in Jack’s room before turning on his lover. “So which is it, Jack?”

“Neither. Elle asked me not to tell you.”

“What is it about me that makes the people I love think I’m going to break if they give me bad news?” Ianto shouted.

“Ianto, how are you feeling right now?” Jack asked softly.

“Really pissed off.”

“ _Everything_ you’re feeling,” Jack stressed.

Ianto narrowed his eyes at him. “Yes, Jack. I’m feeling fear and tension and pain coming off of Elle. I’m feeling your elation and your love and concern and fear. I’m feeling Tosh and Owen’s wonder and curiosity.” He paused, head tilted. “A bit of horror from Owen, too. And I’m feeling a dozen emotions of my own. So yes, I’m overloaded right now and trying to keep control is a little exhausting.”

Jack opened his mouth to comment.

“ _But_ that does not mean Elle gets to keep things from me because she’s worried. And it certainly doesn’t mean that you get to help her keep information from me!”

“You’re right. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

Ianto sighed. “I hear that phrase an awful lot from you.”

“Ianto, I’m sorry,” Jack said, his tone defeated.

Ianto took in Jack’s expression and felt the waves of emotion coming off him. He walked over and enveloped Jack in a tight hug. “I know. I’m sorry, too. I’m worn out. I just—”

“I get it. I really do. No secrets. But you’re going to have to have a talk with Elle.”

“Believe me, I intend to.”

Jack pressed a gentle kiss to Ianto’s lips, then stepped back, still holding Ianto in his arms. “Ianto, how do you know they’ve been hurting her?”

“I was recruited by Torchwood One, Jack. Four started out as part of One. I’m familiar with their methods,” he said darkly.

Jack frowned. There hadn’t been anything about Ianto’s recruitment in his personnel file. “What did they do to you?”

“Another time, Jack. It’s in the past. We have more important things to deal with right now.”

Jack’s jaw tightened, but before he could begin to argue, Owen’s voice chirped in his ear over the comm.

“Jack.”

“We’re on our way, Owen,” Jack replied, taking Ianto’s hand and leading him to the ladder. “Together, yeah?”

“Together,” Ianto agreed.  
****

“Right. First off, these buggers are geniuses,” Owen said as Ianto, Jack and Tosh crowded around his desk. “Sick fuckers, but geniuses nonetheless.”

“Your point, Owen?” Jack asked tiredly.

“The chemical engineering at work here is mind-boggling. Even for me,” Tosh continued.

“I’ve just begun sorting through the genetic work. I could bore you with the details, but the short of it is the baby Elle is carrying was yours, Jack. Now, it’s yours and Elle’s and Ianto’s,” Owen said.

“We already knew that. Elle told us,” Jack replied.

“Thanks, that would have saved me a lot of reading.”

“Owen,” Ianto warned. Jack’s jaw was tightening, a sure sign he was nearing the end of his restraint.

“Right. What they did is amazing. And far beyond our capabilities, even with the most advanced tech available on this planet,” Owen said.

“Can you identify the origin of the tech, Tosh?” Jack asked.

“I can try extrapolating from the files, but it will take time. It would be easier if I could have it in my hands,” she replied.

“What about the baby’s accelerated growth?” Ianto asked.

“They’ve been giving her daily injections,” Owen said, his face darkening slightly. “It seems to be an Earth-bound compound, but I’m still analyzing it. I can reproduce it, however.”

“What? Why? They were accelerating the growth in case she tried to escape; we don’t have that problem here. Why not let the pregnancy continue its natural course?” Ianto asked.

“Because I don’t know enough about it to predict what it will do to Elle or the baby if the drug suddenly stops being administered. Given some time with it, I may be able to wean them off or stop it completely. But for right now, she has to keep taking it. For both their sakes,” Owen argued.

“Oh gods,” Ianto whispered.

“However, it looks like I should be able to reproduce it in pill form. No more injections,” Owen said softly.

“If they could make it in pill form, why didn’t they?” Tosh asked.

“Because you can’t throw up an injection to get it out of your system,” Ianto replied.

“Plus, they’re a bunch of sadistic bastards,” Owen said through gritted teeth.

“Owen,” Jack breathed, a pained expression on his face. He had an inkling where this was going, and he hadn’t wanted Ianto to hear it in front of everyone. He had wanted Ianto to hear it from him when they were alone, where he only had to deal with his own anger and grief.

“What have they done?” Ianto asked, his voice eerily steady.

“They’ve been torturing her to find out what reactions certain injuries caused. So they could test the baby as she grew older. To see if she had indeed inherited the ability,” Owen said softly.

Tosh gasped. She hadn’t read those files. Owen reached out and put an arm around her shoulders.

“How long?” Ianto asked.

“Since they took her. They would torture her as much as they could without causing a danger to the pregnancy; which was apparently an awful lot. When she wasn’t being tortured, she was strapped to a hospital bed. Someone would come in to feed her by hand; they didn’t want the baby malnourished, but they also didn’t trust her not to fashion a weapon out of her utensils,” Owen continued.

“She would have, too,” Ianto said quietly.

“She said they had pulled back a little once she started feeling pain. She hasn’t described what ‘pulling back’ entailed, though. From the looks of the scarring, they were using restraint in the broadest sense of the word.”

Tosh started crying and buried her face against Owen’s shoulder.

“What about the pain she’s been experiencing? She doesn’t feel pain,” Jack asked, taking Ianto’s hand and lacing their fingers together.

“Yeah, she mentioned that. I’m not sure. And neither were they, despite their testing. It could be something as simple as her body’s way of protecting the baby. Let her feel pain so that she doesn’t cause herself or the baby any serious harm. If that’s the case, then once the baby’s born, she should go back to normal,” Owen replied.

“And if it’s not the case?” Jack asked.

Owen swallowed.

“Owen!” Ianto prompted sharply.

“If that’s not the case, it could mean her system has been severely weakened by the stress of the torture, the genetic alterations to the fetus and the accelerated pregnancy. She may not survive childbirth. Even if she does, there’s no guarantee she’ll fully recover.”

Ianto closed his eyes as he began to cry silently. Jack took him into his arms and Ianto buried his face against Jack’s neck, finding solace in the comforting warmth and scent of his lover.

“So that’s it?” Tosh asked through her tears. “All we have is she could die and we can do nothing?” she looked at Owen with wide eyes.

Owen squeezed her shoulders gently. “I wish I had better news,” he said to Jack.

Jack nodded, rubbing Ianto’s back.

Over the CCTV feed of Elle’s room, they heard her voice. Jack and Ianto walked over to watch and saw Elle sitting up in bed, stroking her stomach and singing softly.

_“Inama nushif_  
Al-asir hiy ayish  
Lia-anni  
Zaratha zarati  
Hatt al-hudad  
Al-maahn al-baiid  
Ay-yah idare  
Adamm malum  
Inama nishuf al a sadarr  
Eann zaratha zarati  
Kali bakka a tishuf ahatt  
Al hudad alman dali” 

“What’s that?” Tosh asked softly.

Jack smiled through his tears. Elle was here. She was alive and the baby was alive. They were here where he could protect them.

“Better news.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The lullaby is _Inama Nushif_ , music and lyrics by Brian Tyler (lyrics interpolated from an original work by Frank Herbert), off the _Children of Dune_ soundtrack.


	42. Lullabies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the baby, Elle, Jack and Ianto all find something to help them sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are sexy fun tiems here.

**Chapter 42—Lullabies**  
Jack rapped his knuckles gently against the doorframe before entering Elle’s room. She was still singing softly as she stroked her stomach.

“Come on in,” she said, shifting so there was room for him to sit on the bed beside her.

“That was beautiful. What was it?”

“An old family lullaby.”

“You’ll have to teach it to Ianto and me so we can take our turns singing it.”

She raised an eyebrow at him. “Don’t you think Ianto will be more comfortable singing a Welsh lullaby?”

Jack shifted so he was sitting beside her and mirrored her position, leaning back against the headboard. He drew his legs up and balanced his wrists on his knees. “There were an awful lot of vowels in that lullaby. I’d kind of like to hear Ianto sing it.”

Elle smacked him on the arm. “You are not using my lullaby as a sexual stimulant.”

“Actually, it’s the accent I was planning on using.”

She laughed and placed her hands over her stomach. “Don’t listen, Pip.”

“Pip, eh?” Ianto asked from the doorway.

“Well, I couldn’t keep calling her ‘the baby’. And I refuse to call her Eve. That’s what _they_ called her.”

Ianto sat on the bed and pulled Elle’s feet into his lap. He began massaging them gently.

Elle sighed happily and closed her eyes.

“Everyone get home okay?” Jack asked.

“Yep. Owen offered Tosh his couch so she didn’t have to be alone tonight.”

“Smooth,” Elle commented.

“Tosh quite clearly informed him that he could sleep on her couch,” Ianto replied with a smirk.

“That’s my girl,” Jack said, smiling.

Elle yawned.

“I think our gossip bores her,” Jack observed, winking at Ianto.

Elle rolled her eyes. “Yes. It’s the gossip. It has nothing to do with escaping from a bunch of mad scientists—getting shot in the process—traveling through a wormhole, getting ER treatment, waiting for you, escaping a hospital, having to ride while you drove the SUV—and Ianto I apologize for thinking you exaggerated about his driving—having to explain this baby and being poked and prodded by Owen. Yes, the gossip has worn me out.”

Jack looked at Ianto. “Pregnancy snarkiness or regular?” he asked him.

“I hate you all,” Elle replied.

Ianto smiled and squeezed her toes. “How about Jack gets you some milk so you can take your pill?”

“What pill?” she asked, eyeing him warily.

“Owen’s worked out a way to get the injections they were giving you into pill form. No more needles,” Ianto replied.

Elle closed her eyes, willing back the tears. “Damn it. Now I’m going to have to be nice to him.”

Jack chuckled and kissed her on the forehead. “Don’t worry too much. It won’t take him long to put his foot in it and you can threaten to kill him again.”

“Oh goody,” she replied with a broad grin as he stood up.

Ianto continued to massage her feet as Jack left the room.

“You don’t need to stay in here tonight,” Elle said after a few moments.

“I know.”

“You need to get some sleep, Ianto.”

“Mm-hm.”

She kicked him lightly with her free foot. “I mean it. I have a feeling I’m going to be out for a while once I fall asleep. You don’t need to stay in here projecting warmth and safety all night.”

Ianto blushed slightly at having been caught out. “I just want you to feel safe.”

“I do. _We_ do. When Jack comes back, I will tolerate a little more coddling while you tuck me in. Then I want you to go get some sleep. Don’t make me get Jack involved,” she said, grinning.

“You are incorrigible.”

“Don’t say that too loudly; Jack may want to get into an incorrigible-off with me.”

“Now I know you’re tired; you’re starting to ramble.”

Elle yawned before she got a chance to form a proper retort.

“Here we go: one glass of milk and one pill,” Jack said, entering the room.

Elle took both items from him. She dutifully swallowed the pill, washing it down with half the glass of milk. “Thank you,” she said, setting the glass on the bedside table.

“Any time,” Jack replied, smiling.

Ianto eased off the bed. Elle snuggled down under the covers and smiled up at them. “Good night, daddies. We’ll see you in the morning.”

Ianto laughed and leaned down to kiss her softly. Then he ran his hand over her stomach in a soft caress. Jack followed suit, adding, “Let Mommy sleep, Pip,” before leaving the room.

Ianto leaned heavily against Jack as they walked to the older man’s quarters.

“Do you want a shower first or do you just want to crawl into bed?” Jack asked quietly as they stood beside the bed. He recognized the signs of empathic overload and wanted to get Ianto comfortable and resting as soon as possible.

“Neither. I want _you_ , Jack.”

Jack smiled. “I’m going to go do a final check to make sure we’re locked up for the night. Then I’m all yours.”

Ianto stilled him with a hand on his arm. “Jack, I want you to make love to me tonight.”

Jack swallowed hard. “I’ll be down soon,” he said, then hurried up the ladder.  
****

Jack was sweating bullets as he made his final rounds. The Weevils were settled down for the night and Myfanwy was snacking happily on a haunch Ianto had given her earlier in the evening. He paused beside his desk, realizing he had stalled as long as he could.

Back before he had left with the Doctor, he would have already been downstairs, taking what Ianto had offered; satisfying the younger man’s softly spoken demand. But since his return, Jack hadn’t taken Ianto. His lover had never asked outright before; he knew Jack was still dealing with his trauma and wasn’t quite ready for that last intimacy. Ianto had come close to asking a few times, hinting at what he wanted with his body. Jack had managed to distract him up until now.

Jack smiled at the thought. He had long ago figured out how to effectively distract Ianto: Ianto loved words. When the younger man shifted his hips, offering to let Jack into his body, Jack drove Ianto into a frenzy by suggesting other ways Ianto could satisfy him.

_“Ianto, please. I want that beautiful, impertinent mouth on me. Please.”_

_“You’re gorgeous when you’re sucking me. Those lush lips stretched around my cock.”_

_“Your cheekbones are sharp enough to cut glass when you hollow your cheeks to suck me all the way down into your throat.”_

_“When you hum around me, it’s all I can do not to fuck your mouth until you choke.”_

Those simple phrases, muttered in a voice strained with desire (because every word was completely true), would cause a darkening of Ianto’s eyes and a catch in the younger man’s breathing just before he slid down his body or dropped to his knees to oblige Jack.

Jack had a sinking feeling it wouldn’t work tonight. Tonight, despite his protests, Ianto needed to know he was still first in Jack’s heart. 

“I can feel you up there feeling, you know,” Ianto’s voice drifted up through the hatch.

“Shit,” Jack muttered before climbing down the ladder.

Ianto was in bed, lying on his stomach with the sheet edging just above the curve of his arse. His head was turned on the pillow so he could watch Jack descend.

Jack’s breath caught when he saw his lover. “Not fair, Ianto. You know what that sight does to me.”

Ianto rolled over to prop himself up on one arm. “I’m done being fair. I need you, Jack. Come to bed.”

“Ianto, you’re tired. You’re overwhelmed. Let’s get some sleep,” Jack said, shrugging out of his braces.

Ianto rose from the bed, gloriously naked, his erect cock standing proudly. “I am tired of everyone telling me what I need.”

“I just want to take care of you.”

“Then give me what I want,” Ianto said, pressing Jack back against the ladder. 

“Ianto…” Jack protested weakly before Ianto kissed him.

“I want this, Jack,” Ianto breathed against his mouth. “I _need_ this.”

Jack whimpered and kissed Ianto deeply, his hands sliding up the younger man’s naked body to cup his face. “All right,” he said, breaking the kiss.

Ianto smiled, his face losing some of its fatigue. Jack kissed him softly, then slid his mouth down to nibble on Ianto’s neck.

“Yessss,” Ianto hissed happily, wrapping one arm around Jack’s shoulders and sliding his other hand into Jack’s hair.

Jack bit softly into the skin of Ianto’s neck, laving the tender flesh with his tongue before biting again.

“Yes, Jack,” Ianto whispered, his hands slipping down to unbutton Jack’s shirt. “Mark me. I’m yours.”

Jack smiled against Ianto’s flesh, then slowly drew the skin of his neck between his teeth, sucking strongly before biting down hard. Ianto jerked against him, his hips grinding against Jack’s. Ianto shoved Jack’s shirt down his arms and off his body, then slid his hands beneath the t-shirt to caress hot, bare flesh.

“Ianto,” Jack said, tearing his mouth away.

Ianto didn’t reply, just took the opportunity to pull Jack’s t-shirt over his head and fling it across the room. Jack grabbed his hands as they tore at the button on his trousers.

“Ianto,” he repeated.

Ianto looked up and met his steady gaze.

“Slowly. I need to do this slowly.”

Ianto nodded and laced their fingers together. He gently pulled Jack toward the bed. He sat down when he felt his legs hit the edge of the bed. Ianto leaned forward and unlaced Jack’s boots, guiding Jack’s hands to his shoulders so he could balance as he stepped out of his boots and socks. Ianto looked up and held Jack’s gaze as he opened Jack’s trousers and slid them down his muscular legs.

“Ianto, I—” Jack’s sentence was cut off by a strangled groan as Ianto pressed his face against the front of Jack’s boxers, kissing him through the thin material. Ianto tilted his head to tease Jack’s navel as he slid his hands up under the legs of the boxers, then tugged them down to puddle at Jack’s feet. Jack stepped out of the trousers and shorts, Ianto’s hands coming up to his hips to steady him.

With a last kiss to Jack’s belly button, Ianto pulled back and looked up at Jack. His tongue slid out to stroke over the head of Jack’s semi-erect cock. As much as Jack wanted Ianto, that edge of fear would not go away. Yet.

Jack shuddered beneath Ianto’s tongue, causing Ianto’s hands to tighten their hold on him.

“Hmmm, still too tense,” Ianto said against the taut skin of Jack’s cock. Without warning, he hooked his thumb around the base of Jack’s cock as he took Jack deep into his throat.

“Gah! Ianto!” Jack shouted, his fingers digging into Ianto’s shoulders.

Ianto smiled as much as he could around Jack’s cock, then sucked hard twice before pulling off completely. He stood up and took Jack’s mouth in a hungry kiss, letting Jack taste his own arousal on his tongue. Jack’s hands slid down the long, graceful expanse of Ianto’s back, finding purchase on the familiar swell of Ianto’s arse. Ianto broke the kiss gently, lifting his hands to cup Jack’s face, his thumbs stroking over Jack’s jawline.

“You won’t hurt me,” he whispered. “We can go as slow as you like. Just make love to me, Jack.”

Jack nodded and leaned forward to kiss Ianto. Ianto opened his mouth to Jack’s gently seeking tongue as his lover gently laid him down on the bed. Jack waited until Ianto was comfortably settled, then held himself on his hands and knees over the younger man, staring down with desire and awe.

“Gods, Ianto,” he breathed, burying his face against Ianto’s neck.

Ianto wrapped his arms around him, holding him gently against his body, shifting slightly so Jack could settle between his legs. He groaned as Jack began to thrust gently against him, their cocks sliding slickly against each other. 

“Please,” Ianto gasped before biting into Jack’s shoulder.

Jack nodded, nipping at the raging pulse in Ianto’s neck. He slid down Ianto’s body, stopping to worship Ianto’s nipples with teeth and tongue. Ianto buried his hands in Jack’s hair, arching up against Jack, thrusting his hips up against Jack’s torso. He gasped at the feel of Jack’s hot, smooth skin pressing against his cock. 

Jack chuckled softly against Ianto’s skin as the younger man began to pant and writhe in earnest. He closed his eyes and, above Ianto’s arousal, he could feel the younger man’s trust. He nodded, pressed a kiss to Ianto’s heart, then leaned up to reach into the bedside table drawer for the lube.

Ianto watched with hooded eyes as Jack knelt back to slick his cock. He reached out and gently took Jack’s wrist, guiding his slick hand between his legs. Jack smiled and began to caress Ianto’s entrance with the tip of his finger. Ianto hissed softly and arched as Jack finally breached him. Jack paused in his ministrations, looking at his lover with concern.

“It’s been a while,” Ianto said softly.

Jack chuckled and leaned forward to kiss him. Ianto moaned into Jack’s mouth as a second finger slid into his body. Jack bit into Ianto’s upper lip, causing Ianto’s moan to deepen.

“Now, Jack!” Ianto demanded, tearing his mouth away. “Please.”

“But—”

“ _Now_.”

Jack nodded and slid his hands beneath Ianto’s thighs, spreading his legs and opening him further. He kissed Ianto, slipping his tongue into Ianto’s mouth as he pressed forward into his body.

Ianto shuddered and clutched Jack’s sides with his knees. His fingers dug into Jack’s hair as he devoured his mouth. Jack began a series of shallow thrusts, knowing the near-constant contact would drive Ianto wild. He broke the kiss to look down into Ianto’s lust-blown eyes. Ianto pushed down against Jack, pressing his arse tight against Jack’s pelvis. 

“Missed this,” Ianto gasped as Jack began to make deeper, more controlled thrusts.

“I’d forgotten. Forgotten. How. Good. How. Tight,” Jack hissed through gritted teeth.

Ianto took one of Jack’s hands and slid it down to his cock. “Touch me. Please.”

Jack took Ianto’s mouth in a hungry kiss as he began to stroke Ianto’s cock in time with his thrusts. Ianto bit down on Jack’s lip and whimpered as he came across Jack’s hand. Jack lifted his head and paused for a moment to watch Ianto’s orgasm wash through him, reaffirming his belief that there were few things more gorgeous than the look on Ianto’s face just after he’s come.

“Your turn,” Ianto gasped, clenching tightly around Jack’s cock.

“Ianto!” Jack shouted as his hips took over and thrust blindly against the younger man. He came seconds later, his mouth buried against Ianto’s neck as he clutched Ianto’s shoulders hard enough to leave bruises.

Once he caught his breath, Jack propped himself up on his elbows and began to withdraw from Ianto’s body.

“No,” Ianto said firmly, his hands cupping Jack’s arse to keep him close. “It’s been so long. Stay,” he whispered.

Jack nodded and rested his head on the pillow beside Ianto’s.

“Hey Ianto,” he whispered into Ianto’s ear a few moments later.

“Hmmm?” Ianto replied, almost asleep.

“ _That_? Will happen again.”

Ianto chuckled and nuzzled further into Jack before falling asleep. Jack waited until Ianto was soundly asleep before slipping out of his body and settling down to sleep.


	43. The Morning After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Elle has her first morning in the Hub.

**Chapter 43—The Morning After**  
“And just what do you think you’re doing?”

“Looking for food. Pip woke me up and now I have a craving,” Elle replied. She was bent over at the waist rummaging through the fridge.

“Craving for what?” Jack asked as he walked over to stand beside her.

She looked up at him and smiled. “I’ll know it when I see it.”

“Really?” Jack asked, lifting an eyebrow.

Elle smiled and bit into an apple. “Food, Jack. Not pregnancy horniness.”

“That’s a shame. I remember how much fun that was when I—” he cut himself off with a shake of the head.

“No, please, continue,” she said, leaning back against the fridge.

“Doesn’t matter. Not important.”

She shrugged and crunched on the apple. “So, Captain. It’s almost dawn and I’m awake and bored.”

“Would you like the grand tour?” he asked, offering his arm to her.

She looped her arm through his. “Perfect.”  
****

Ianto woke with a start. He was alone in Jack’s bed; which in and of itself wasn’t an unusual occurrence. He closed his eyes and buried his face in the pillow, inhaling Jack’s scent. His eyes snapped open as the previous night’s events came back to him. He sat up quickly, well-used muscles protesting the movement. He located his boxers and t-shirt, then climbed up the ladder into Jack’s office. He hurried over to Tosh’s desk and brought up the CCTV footage of the Hub. After a few seconds of searching, he found Elle and Jack down in the firing range. Ianto smiled at the sight. They were both wearing ear and eye protection and Elle looked rather incongruous standing next to a fully-clothed Jack in her scrubs. Both were laughing as Elle tried out several different weapons. He knew without looking that she was putting up above-average marks with each one.

He closed the window on Tosh’s computer and stretched.

“Shower, then food,” he muttered before going down to Jack’s room to get a fresh suit.  
****

Elle laughed as she handed the Torchwood-issue handgun back to Jack. “Felt good to hold that again.”

Jack nodded. He had a feeling her comment was not solely due to being out of the field for so long; he knew what having your control taken away felt like.

“What next?” he asked, clapping his hands together.

Elle walked over and eyed the display of weapons Jack had brought into the room. Her eyes lit up as her gaze rested on one item in particular.

“Is that an Aucturian phase rifle?”

“It is. We—and by we, I mean Tosh and Ianto—just got it working. Care to try your hand with it?”

“I have a special spot for Aucturian weapons,” she said, lifting the rifle and caressing it.

“Really?”

“They gave us weapons as a wedding gift,” Ianto said from the doorway.

“Torchwood One made us hand them over,” Elle pouted.

“Not that you actually gave all of them over,” Ianto replied.

“You have Aucturian weapons in your house?” Jack asked.

She shrugged. “I locked the place down when Four took me. They’re safe.”

“We’re going to have to go over there and get those. And the Bot,” Jack said.

“Can you get some of my clothes while you’re there? And my boots,” she asked, aiming the rifle at the target.

“We’ll see,” Jack said.

“I miss my boots,” Elle said before firing a shot.

The paper target burst into flames.

“The settings need altered,” she said, lowering the gun.

“Obviously,” Ianto replied. “I came down to see if the two of you wanted breakfast.”

“I’m starving. Pip and I had an apple earlier, but we’re hungry again,” Elle said, handing Jack the rifle.

Ianto inclined his head. “Right this way. I’ll even make you coffee.”

Elle squealed and hugged him tightly. “ _Real_ coffee?”

“Decaf. But I’ll be making it, so it’ll hardly be noticeable.”

She stepped back and narrowed her eyes at him. “I’ll be the judge of that.”

Ianto laughed and kissed her forehead. “Coming, Jack?”

Jack stood watching the pair and smiled. “After I clean up down here.”

Ianto walked over and kissed Jack softly before taking Elle upstairs.  
****

“So, how well did _you_ sleep last night?” Elle asked as she sat on the counter and watched Ianto make coffee.

“Very well, thank you,” Ianto replied, flicking water at her.

“Sounded like you got properly worn out.”

Ianto froze and turned to look at her.

“Gotcha.”

“Wench.”

“You love that about me.”

“Hmmm.”

“Oh, come on, Ianto. That love bite on your neck tells the whole story.”

It took every ounce of will power Ianto had not to reach up and touch his neck. He finally gave up and checked his reflection in the coffee machine.

Elle giggled.

“I really hate you.”

“No you don’t. And it’s barely noticeable unless you’re looking for it.”

“Contrary to popular belief, I don’t try to cause Ianto embarrassment on a regular basis,” Jack said as he joined them.

“It just tends to happen more often than not,” Ianto replied.

Jack laughed and leaned in for a kiss as he took his cup of coffee from Ianto.

“Aw, that’s so sweet,” Elle said, sniffling.

Both men turned to look at her, puzzled.

“Sorry. Hormones. You’re turning your mother into a whiny girl,” Elle said, poking her stomach gently.

Jack and Ianto looked at each other and smiled.

“I saw that,” Elle said.

“So!” Jack said, clapping his hands. “What do you want for breakfast?”

“Bacon,” Elle replied.

“You don’t eat pork,” Ianto said.

“No, but Pip wants it,” she replied. “And if Pip doesn’t get what she wants, she dances on Mommy’s bladder. Which makes Mommy have to go to the bathroom a lot. Which makes Mommy cranky. And now, if she makes Mommy cranky, Mommy makes Daddies cranky.” She smiled prettily, if menacingly, at them.

“Right. Bacon. Anything else?” Jack said.

“I want a bacon and grilled cheese sandwich. And a banana. But not on the sandwich, because that would be gross.”

“Of course. Ianto?”

Ianto was already digging into the fridge. “We have everything but the banana.”

“I’ll run out and—” Jack cut himself off when he heard the alarms for the cog door go off. He watched as Tosh walked in, her arms laden with bags and a travel mug in her hand.

“A little help!” Tosh said.

Elle hopped down off the counter, but was stopped by Ianto’s hand as Jack hurried out to help Tosh.

“Yeah, pregnant and emotional does not mean invalid. I can help out,” Elle said, glaring down at Ianto’s hand and then up at his face.

Ianto rolled his eyes and stepped back to let her pass.

“Oh, good, you’re up!” Tosh said when she saw her.

“Pip was hungry,” Elle said, shrugging.

“I brought bananas,” Tosh said, holding them up.

“I _love_ you. You’re my new favorite,” Elle said, taking one and tearing into it.

“I, um, also picked up some clothes for you. I looked at the sizes in the clothes you had on last night. I hope you don’t mind.”

Elle swallowed hard. “Marry me?”

Tosh blushed. “Um, err, well.”

“She’s kidding, Tosh,” Ianto said.

“Says you. _She_ brought me food and clothes. All the two of you managed to do was get me up the duff.”

Tosh coughed.

“Stop helping,” Jack said to her.

Tosh smiled. “I put the bags on the couch.”

“Why don’t you go shower while I make breakfast?” Ianto asked.

“Are you saying I stink?” Elle asked.

“Yes,” Jack and Ianto replied in unison.

Elle grabbed another banana and glared at them. Then she sauntered over to the couch and picked up the bags Tosh had brought her.

“That sandwich had better be ready when I come back.”

Tosh, Ianto and Jack watched her go. Suddenly, Tosh started giggling.

“What?” Jack asked.

“I was just thinking how entertaining Gwen and a hormonal Elle will be.”

Jack and Ianto looked at each other.

“Is it wrong that I _want_ the Rift to act up today?” Jack asked.


	44. Meetings, Plans and Other Inconveniences

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the team has a meeting, Jack has a confrontation, Gwen has suspicions and then it all goes pear-shaped.

**Chapter 44—Meetings, Plans and Other Inconveniences**  
When Elle came back up from the showers—which were far more luxurious than she had expected—Gwen and Owen had both made it in to work. Elle waved briefly at Owen before skirting up to the kitchen to see Ianto.

“Sandwich,” she said by way of greeting.

Ianto turned and handed her a glass of milk. “It’s in the conference room. We’re all just about to head in to the morning meeting.”

“Please tell me you have something to discuss besides me at this meeting.”

“We do. Jack gave Gwen the bare bones while you were in the shower. Which will not keep her from pestering you with questions when she gets the chance.”

“Lovely.”

“Gwen has a big heart. She wants to help everyone, fix everything; she just doesn’t always know how to use tact to do so.”

“I’ll be nice. I promise.”

Ianto raised an eyebrow at her.

“I will _try. Really hard._ ”

“I’m sure you will,” Ianto replied gravely.

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Don’t make me tell them about how we ended up married.”

Ianto put his hand on the small of her back and steered her toward the conference room. “I can live with trying,” he said.

Elle smirked into her glass of milk.  
****

Gwen tried very hard not to fidget in her seat. She wanted the meeting over so she could talk to Elle. She wanted to know more about this woman who was married to Ianto (yes, yes, technically but marriage was marriage) and carrying his child. Jack’s child. She mentally shook her head. It wasn’t about Jack. She wanted to know about Elle. She wanted to know about _Ianto_ from Elle; what was he like before Canary Wharf? Would he leave them now that this former lover had turned up? Would he leave Jack?

“Gwen,” Jack prompted.

“Sorry, what?”

“You and Ianto are on Rift duty today. Anything comes through that doesn’t require a full team response is your responsibility.”

“Ianto and I?” she asked blankly.

“I need Owen here working on Elle’s medical work-up and I need Tosh doing…whatever it is she does with computers that makes her scary-brilliant,” Jack explained, causing Tosh to beam.

“Why aren’t you going into the field with me?” Gwen asked.

“Because I have something else to work on and since when do I have to explain myself?” Jack replied.

“Well, we always ask you to; you just usually don’t,” Ianto supplied.

“Right. Elle, you and Owen have a check-up date. Tosh, go start working your magic. Gwen, I’m sure you have reports and Ianto if you don’t get me more coffee soon, I’m withholding sexual favors,” Jack said, standing.

“That’ll last,” Tosh muttered under her breath as she walked past Elle.

Elle and Ianto snorted as they followed her out. Owen followed, grabbing Elle’s elbow to steer her to Autopsy before she could dart away to go find something to play with.

“Yes, Gwen?” Jack asked.

“How long is she going to be here?”

He crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall. “As long as I say.”

“What do we really know about her? Or why she’s here?”

“She’s here because I brought her here. It was the safest thing for her.”

“And the baby?”

“It was the safest thing for the baby, too,” he agreed.

“No, Jack. What are we going to do about the baby?”

“Owen is working to make sure the pregnancy progresses as safely and naturally as possible.”

“And after the baby is born?” 

“We’ll take it as it comes. It would be nice to have someone with Elle’s experience around here full time.”

“And having a baby around here full time? How is that going to work?”

“Trial and error, like most things with babies,” Jack replied. “Why are you so concerned?”

“We just…what if she wants to take the baby and leave?”

“We’ll deal with things as they come. This is a special case.”

“Why? Because it’s _your_ baby?”

_Ah, and there it is._ “For a lot of reasons. Because she survived Canary Wharf. Because she protected and trained Ianto. Because she helped me when no one else could. And yes, because she’s carrying my baby. Mine and Ianto’s.”

Gwen just stared at him. “And if _I_ wanted to have a baby?”

“I think that’s something you should discuss with Rhys. But if you could, hold off until after Elle’s baby is born. I’d like to only have one operative down at a time,” he said, moving past her toward the door.

“She is not one of our operatives. She is not a member of this team!” Gwen shouted.

Jack paused. “Not yet. I think I’ll go ask her right now.”

He left Gwen seething in the conference room.  
****

“Anyone ever tell you that you have horrific timing?” Elle asked Jack. She was sitting on the exam table as Owen took another vial of blood from her arm.

“Several people. Ianto most often,” he replied. “That doesn’t answer my question, though.”

“How about we let me get through the pregnancy and birth first and _then_ have this discussion?” she asked.

“Because that would make sense,” Owen breathed as he stored her blood. He returned with a glass of water and another pill. “Daily vitamin. Bottoms up,” he said, handing the items to her.

Elle rolled her eyes, but took the pill.

Jack’s gaze flicked up as he saw Gwen join them, making no effort to mask her suspicion. She met and held his gaze until he turned back to Elle, who was watching the two of them with interest.

“How about some fresh air?” he asked Elle.

“Beg pardon?” she replied.

“Well, we need to check out your house and pick up some sensitive items. I thought you’d prefer it if you went with me so you can be sure I don’t poke through your dainties.”

“Haven’t you already done that?” Owen asked.

“Good, I can dislike you again,” Elle said, earning a snort from Owen.

“So how about it, Owen? Is she cleared for a field trip?”

“You can’t be serious,” Ianto said.

Jack turned, startled, not having heard Ianto approach him. He began to give serious thought to revisiting the idea of putting a bell on the other man.

“See? Ianto agrees she’s not safe,” Gwen said.

“Of course I agree it’s not safe for her to be out. Just because we removed the tracker doesn’t mean they can’t find her again,” Ianto said.

Jack hid a grimace as he realized Gwen had meant Elle wasn’t safe in a completely different context than Ianto meant it.

“I have to agree with Ianto. Much as I’d like the comforts of home, that’s the first place they’ll be waiting for me,” Elle said.

“Fine. I’ll take Tosh with me. I can see if she gets that Look again once she sees your set up,” Jack said.

“What look?” Elle asked.

“You so very much don’t want to know,” Owen replied.

“Tosh!” Jack yelled.

“Yes?” she said, appearing at the entrance to Autopsy.

“Fancy a field trip to play with Elle’s toys?”

Tosh’s eyes lit up. “I’ll get my things,” she replied, then disappeared into the Hub.

“There. Sorted,” Jack said.

“Fine,” Gwen said.

Ianto looked between the two of them. “Is there something—”

He was cut off as Elle screamed.


	45. Growing Pains

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wherein the author resolves a cliffhanger, Gwen is still being an Idiot and Ianto is a bit of a Badass.

**Chapter 45—Growing Pains**  
Jack and Ianto watched in horror as Elle fell her knees on the ground, then fell to her side, screaming. 

“Elle!” Ianto shouted, dropping to his knees beside her. He grasped her hand as she shook.

Jack sat behind her, helping to keep her on her side. “Elle, what is it?”

She shook her head and gasped.

“Jack, look!” Ianto said, pointing to Elle’s stomach.

They could see the baby moving frantically through Elle’s shirt.

“Owen, what’s going on?” Jack demanded.

“I don’t know!” Owen replied, trying to move Ianto to the side so he could examine Elle.

“Elle, what is it?” Ianto asked, taking Owen’s place.

“The baby,” she gasped, then ducked her head as she bit back another scream.

“Owen, the baby’s in distress!” Jack said.

“Right, get her on the table, we’ll do a—”

“Wait!” Elle ground out. “Just—gah!”

Jack and Ianto held onto Elle as she shook, screamed and struggled for nearly fifteen minutes. Tosh and Gwen held onto each other at the top of the stairs, tears in Tosh’s eyes and Gwen’s narrowed to catch every detail.

Elle finally stopped and rolled onto her back and lay there panting.

“ _Mother! Fucker!_ ” Elle yelled as a last shudder went through her.

“What the hell was that?” Owen finally asked.

“That was a growth spurt,” Elle replied shakily.

“What?” Jack asked.

“Help me up on the table.”

Jack and Ianto did as she asked, then stepped back to wait for an explanation.

“If you check the baby, you’ll find she’s grown,” Elle replied, still holding Ianto’s hand.

Owen immediately hurried over and began checking the baby’s vitals and running another sonogram.

“I don’t believe it,” Owen breathed as he stared at the results.

“What part of advanced ageing was unclear?” Elle said.

“Yes, but…”

“Is it that bad every time?” Ianto asked quietly.

“Every time,” she confirmed. “But it’s early. She just had a spurt a week ago. They’re usually about two apart.”

“Owen, dig deeper into those files. Find out what we’re doing differently. Putting the baby through that too quickly can’t be good for her,” Jack ordered.

Owen nodded and turned away.

“Is there anything we can do for you?” Ianto asked.

“Some water would be fantastic. And a nap. It takes a lot out of us,” Elle replied.

Ianto hurried to comply.

Jack ran a hand through Elle’s hair. “I’m going to be honest with you. For a minute there, I was expecting the John Hurt moment.”

Elle snorted. “If she’s anything like you, she’d have the teeth for it.”

“Hey now!”

She chuckled, then sniffed as her eyes filled with tears.

Jack looked up at Owen and tilted his head. Owen nodded and left, taking Gwen and Tosh with him. Jack wrapped his arms around Elle as she shivered. Ianto came back a few moments later with a glass of water for Elle. Jack helped her sit up to drink.

“Slowly, we don’t want you throwing up on us,” Jack said.

Elle flipped him off as she drank. “Sorry about that,” she said, handing Ianto the empty glass. “I thought I’d have more time before you guys had to see that. I wanted to prepare you.”

“Next time, just let us know. Don’t worry about easing us into it. Because that took about ten years off my life,” Ianto said.

“Sorry.”

“Is that it? Is she done growing for right now?” Jack asked.

“She should be. Usually, it happens and then I sleep for a couple of hours.”

“Then let’s get you back to your room so you can nap,” Ianto said, easing her off the exam table.

“I have to help Jack out at my flat,” she protested.

“I think that can wait a few hours. You get some rest and then we’ll go,” Jack replied.

Each man put an arm around her waist and helped her up the stairs.

“I can walk, you guys,” she said gruffly, shaking them off.

The two men exchanged a look, then followed her, ready to catch her if she collapsed.

Elle settled into her bed with a sigh. She was a sleep in moments.

Jack and Ianto slowly walked back upstairs.

“That was…”

“Scary,” Ianto finished.

“Yeah. How are you?” Jack asked, taking his hand.

“Terrified.”

“Me, too.”

“That doesn’t bode well for the universe.”

Jack laughed. “Come on, let’s get upstairs and see what Owen’s come up with.”  
****

“No, absolutely not,” Ianto said.

“I’m sorry, Ianto, we have to,” Owen said.

It was three hours later, and Owen had called the meeting to reveal his results.

“Find another way,” Jack argued.

“I can maybe find one eventually, but right now this is how we have to do this.”

“No!” Ianto protested.

“I think I should probably get a vote here, guys.”

Owen and Ianto turned to see Elle standing in the doorway to the conference room. 

Elle walked over and settled down in a chair. “So, what are we arguing about?”

“Your medical care,” Gwen said.

“Sounds interesting. What did I miss?”

“In short, we have to go back to the daily injections if we want to keep the baby on her regular schedule of growth spurts,” Owen said.

“All right,” Elle said as Ianto opened his mouth to protest again.

“What?” he said.

“Look, no matter what else happens, we do what’s best for Pip. Owen says we need daily injections, then we need daily injections,” Elle said.

Owen looked shocked.

“What? Just because I’m back to not liking you doesn’t mean I can’t recognize when you’re right,” she said.

“Okay, then. Elle, why don’t you let Owen give you an injection now and then get ready to go out,” Jack said.

“I still think that’s a bad idea, Jack,” Gwen protested.

“Duly noted. Again. Tosh, what does the surveillance say?”

“I went back through the past three days; there’s been no activity in or around Elle’s house. It should be safe,” Tosh replied.

Jack turned to look at Gwen. “See? We’ll be careful. I’ll even let Elle take a gun.”

“Yipee!” Elle said, clapping her hands.

“All right, Annie Oakley, come with me,” Owen said.

Elle followed him out of the room.

“I’ll just grab my coat,” Tosh said, leaving.

Gwen looked between Ianto and Jack. “I can’t believe you two don’t realize the risk here.”

“Relax, Gwen. We’ll all be armed and we are all trained Torchwood field agents,” Jack said.

“That’s not what she meant, Jack. She means Elle,” Ianto said.

Gwen and Jack both turned sharply to look at him.

Ianto’s jaw was set and his eyes were hard. “Gwen doesn’t trust Elle’s sudden appearance. That’s to be expected; she doesn’t know Elle. And although I don’t know how or why, I believe it could be possible that she faked that episode. So, while Jack, Tosh and Elle are at the house, you and I are going to go through all the information Elle brought with her. Okay, Gwen?”

“And just what will that prove? She brought the information!”

“Well, we can watch the videos of them torturing her and then we can ask her to show us the corresponding scars. Will that be good enough for you?” he asked, his voice cold.

Gwen swallowed hard. “Yes. That will be fine.”

“Good. I’ll go call up the information,” he said, then left.

Gwen turned to look at Jack.

“When this is all over, I hope you have an appropriate apology ready,” Jack said, then left the room.


	46. What Tosh Loves Best

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jack, Tosh and Elle go to Elle’s house to retrieve some equipment…and other things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And yes, we all know Tosh loves Ianto best.

**Chapter 46—What Tosh Loves Best**  
Elle rolled her eyes as Jack insisted on unlocking the front door.

“It could be booby-trapped,” he protested.

“If they had gotten close enough to booby-trap it, we would know. _I’d_ know,” Elle replied.

Jack just shrugged and unlocked the door. He stuck his head in, making sure nothing was going to come tumbling onto his head or shooting through his skull, then held the door for Tosh and Elle to enter. Once the two women were inside, he followed, closing and locking the door behind them. He turned to see Elle regarding him with a smirk.

“Don’t smirk at me in that tone of voice,” he said.

Tosh had her scanner out in front of her, taking readings. “There’s something weird,” she said.

Jack looked around. “Elle, you’ve been cleaned out,” he said, looking into the now-empty living room. “They took _everything_. What?” he asked as he saw her expression.

She reached out and patted his cheek. “You’re so pretty.” She walked back over to the door. She turned her hand so her fingers were turned toward the floor and pressed it against the wall. There was a soft hiss and a panel slid back, revealing a pad for fingerprints and an optic scanner. Elle placed the ring finger of her left hand on the pad as she looked into the optic scanner.

“Elektra Calonice Atreides. Cookie Monster,” she said softly.

Tosh jumped and squeaked as the air around them shimmered, revealing the familiar furnishings of Elle’s home.

“Cookie Monster?” Jack asked.

“Would you have guessed it?” Elle asked.

“No.”

“There you go.”

“Cloaking device?” Tosh asked.

“Strategic masking,” Elle confirmed. “I appropriated it from One. It seemed like a good idea at the time.”

“Elektra Calonice Atreides?” Jack asked.

“It’s Elle. Only my relatives call me Elektra,” Elle replied, engaging further locks so no one could get in while they worked.

Jack had the grace to realize she’d kill him slowly if he used her full name. It was amazing what the woman could communicate with just the narrowing of her eyes.

“Calonice means beautiful victory, doesn’t it?” Tosh asked, breaking the silence before Jack started laughing. The man had the tact of a coked-out monkey sometimes.

“You speak Greek?” Elle asked as they headed for the basement door.

“A little,” Tosh confessed.

“I’ll help you with it. Then we can conspire in yet another language Jack doesn’t speak.”

“Who says I don’t speak Greek?” Jack asked. He turned on the light and followed the two women down the stairs.

“I said some really nasty things about you and your parentage in Greek while we were sparring. Believe me, if you’d understood me, you’d have snapped my neck a lot more often,” Elle replied.

Tosh stopped dead on the stairs. “You snapped her neck?” She turned to look at Elle. “Are you…like Jack?”

“No. Come on, you’ll see,” Elle said, leading her into the basement. The Bot was sitting in its usual inactive pose, cross-legged in the middle of the mat.

“What on Earth?” Tosh asked, already hurrying over to begin scanning.

“Tosh loves me best,” Elle whispered to Jack.

“Tosh loves technology best,” Jack replied. “Tosh, you okay playing down here while Elle and I go pack some things?”

Tosh waved over her shoulder at them, poking and prodding at the Bot.

Elle pressed a switch on their way out so Tosh could find the control room.

“The lullaby…is that in Greek?” Jack asked as he and Elle went up to her bedroom.

“No. It’s an older language. One of those dead ones only kept alive in small pockets of the world,” she said, running a hand over her belly absentmindedly.

“Then we’ll have to make sure to teach it to the baby,” he said, taking her hand.

She smiled up at him and kissed him on the cheek. “Grab the suitcase from the top shelf in the closet, will you?”

He squeezed her hand, then moved to do as she asked while she went to her wardrobe.  
****

“No, absolutely not,” Jack said.

“Are you putting your foot down?” Elle asked, eyes wide as she tried not to laugh.

“Yes.”

“Jack, I escaped Four in heels higher than this.”

“Yes, and now you’re about a month further along. Soon you won’t be able to see your feet and I don’t want you taking a header because you twisted your ankle in those spindly heels!”

Elle looked at the boots in her hand. They were disturbingly similar to Jack’s, but with a thick two-inch heel. “Jack, these are baby heels. These are nothing. I’m putting them on,” she said, sitting on the edge of her bed.

Jack watched as Elle carefully slid her feet into the boots, then watched her struggle to shift so she could tie them. He snorted.

“Don’t laugh. She’s only been this big a few hours. I’ll adjust. In the meantime, come here,” Elle said.

Jack walked over, fully intending to have to tie Elle’s boots for her. Instead, she propped her foot on his thigh and wiggled around until she could reach the laces and properly tie the boot. She switched feet and repeated the process, grinning at Jack the whole time.

“Ready to go check on Tosh now?” Jack asked as she stood up.

“Yep. Are you ready to explain to her that she can’t take everything on this trip?”

“I was hoping you’d do that. It’s your stuff,” he replied, following her downstairs.

“Technically, most of it’s Torchwood’s. Seeing as you’re the most senior Torchwood member, it’s your job to tell her.”

“I’ve almost finished narrowing it down,” Tosh said as they came through the door. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were shining.

To Jack’s surprise, there were only three piles of equipment dotting the mat floor. He smiled as he looked at Tosh. “Tosh, did you stop to play with things as you found them?”

She blushed. “Only a few times. These two piles need to go right now; either for security reasons or I really want to get my hands on them. The other pile is an ‘if-we-have-room’ pile. I can come back for it later.”

Elle looked at the piles with interest. Some of the equipment was quite heavy or awkward to move alone, especially if one were a petite woman. She smiled at Tosh. “You figured out how to work the Bot and had her help, didn’t you, Tosh?”

“Yes. She goes in the first batch. I can’t wait to see everything she can do,” Tosh said excitedly. “I took the liberty of downloading her programming and control software into my laptop. I think I can probably design controls that are—”

Jack held up a hand. Once Tosh got going on a subject she loved, she could keep going until her voice or lungs gave out from sheer strain. “When we get back. First, we have to figure out how to get everything out of here quickly. We can’t afford to have our friends from Four show up while our hands are full of crates and equipment.”

“You could pull the SUV up the alley; we can load it up from the garden. That’d be far more difficult for them to sneak up on us,” Elle suggested.

“And we could have the Bot help us while Elle stays inside. If anything happens, Elle can put her home into lockdown again and wait for the cavalry,” Tosh said.

“If anything happens, your ass had better get inside to wait with Elle,” Jack said.

“Yes, boss.”

Jack touched his comm. “Ianto, have you guys seen anything?” he asked.

“Much. But not around Elle’s house,” came the terse reply.

Jack closed his eyes, realizing that things between Gwen and Ianto had not gone well. Something he’d have to deal with when they got back.

“Good. I’m going to go move the SUV so we can start loading it up. Keep your eyes and ears peeled,” he said.

It took them the better part of an hour, but they finally managed to get most of the SUV packed. They finished by putting the Bot in a large crate, Jack wheeling it out on a dolly and loading it in with the help of Tosh, who cringed every time the crate was bumped.

“Really, Tosh, it’s fine. A few bumps to the crate won’t hurt it,” Jack said as they walked back in the house.

“There is some very delicate technology inside that machine, Jack,” Tosh protested.

“Tosh, it survived Cybermen. I think it can survive me packing it into an SUV.”

“Can we go now? I’m bored and hungry,” Elle said as she shrugged into her coat.

“Yes. We’ll stop and get lunch for everyone. When we get back to the Hub, you can let Owen take a look at you and Pip, then you, Ianto and Tosh can start sorting and playing with all these new toys,” Jack said.

They hurried out into the SUV, breathing a sigh of relief when they pulled out into traffic.

Jack hit his comm. “Ianto, we’ve made it out of Elle’s unmolested. And I never thought I’d say that word without feeling disappointment.”

Jack could _hear_ the eye roll through the comm. “Very good, sir. We’ll see you when you get back.”

“So, do you think he killed Gwen?” Elle asked. She had borrowed Tosh’s back-up comm and had been privy to all the conversations over it so far. She had recognized the tension in Ianto’s voice.

“Probably not. He’ll have wanted to, but I have a strict policy of only letting you shoot one employee. Ianto used his up on Owen and he has to live with that choice,” Jack replied.

Tosh snorted from her seat in the back.

“I’ll have a talk with Gwen after lunch,” Jack said.

“Maybe it would be better if I talked to her. After all, I’m the one she has the problem with. Let her interrogate me and get it all off her chest. Then we can just move on,” Elle said.

“Moving on is not something Gwen does well. She tends to hold onto things until she’s happy with them,” Tosh muttered.

“Hmm. You know what would make _me_ happy?” Elle asked.

“Telling me how you and Ianto ended up married?” Jack suggested.

“No. That would make _you_ happy. What would make _me_ happy is a double cheeseburger.”

Jack rolled his eyes. “I’m not keeping you safe from Torchwood Four just so you can kill yourself with clogged arteries.”

“Please? With chips loaded with vinegar. I’ll be very good,” Elle continued.

Jack turned to look at her as he stopped for a red light. “How ‘very good’?”

“I’ll let Owen examine me without threatening to kill him and I’ll let Gwen interrogate me without actually killing her.”

“Sounds fair,” Tosh said from the back seat.

“Stop helping,” Jack said.

Tosh chuckled softly.

“Fine,” Jack said, turning left once the light changed to take them to a local burger joint.

“ _Told_ you Tosh loved me best.”


	47. Interrogation Techniques (Ianto)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Ianto and Gwen have “The Conversation”.

**Chapter 47—Interrogation Techniques (Ianto)**  
“Have you seen enough?” Ianto asked, his voice rough.

“There’s no sound,” Gwen said, trying to keep her voice level and professional. It was gut-wrenching to watch and, if it was real, it was the most horrible thing she’d ever seen.

“You actually want to hear her scream?” Ianto asked, his voice snapping.

Gwen turned to look at him. She had never seen him this angry, this cold. “Without sound, we don’t know if it’s real or if they’re all really good actors. Those could be stage knives; the cigarettes could be unlit, with the smoke added later; and those restraints might not be that tightly bound.”

Ianto swallowed down the rage and leaned forward. He pressed a button and Elle’s screams filled the Hub. Gwen put her hands over her ears. Ianto pressed the button again, cutting the sound off.

“Better?” he asked.

“Ianto, I’m sorry,” she said reaching a hand out.

“Don’t. Touch me,” he said, stepping back. “I don’t understand, Gwen. You’re usually the first to offer hugs and blankets to someone who’s hurt. What exactly is going on here?”

“Aren’t you concerned that we’ve just gotten Jack back and now someone’s trying to take him away again? Aren’t you suspicious?”

“No one’s taking Jack away, Gwen,” Ianto said, exasperated.

“You don’t know that! He’s already left us once.”

“Yes, and it was such a lovely experience that I’m sure he’s aching to run off and do it again!”

“That’s it! Don’t you see? You’re the only one who knows what happened to him. How are the rest of us to know he won’t run off again?” she asked, her eyes pleading.

“Because he said he won’t.”

“And that’s it? You just take his word?”

“Yes!” Ianto said sharply. “We betrayed and killed _him_ , Gwen, not the other way around. He’s the only one of us whose word can be trusted.”

She folded her arms over her chest. “You’ve just made my point. We don’t know who Elle is.”

“ _I_ know who she is. I know that she’s saved my mind and my life more times than I can count. I know that without her, I never would have survived the four of you killing Lisa. And without her, Jack wouldn’t have survived what happened to him while he was gone. We owe her everything, Gwen. We owe her _Jack_ ,” he said, his voice cracking at the end.

“And what if she decides to take him?” she asked gently.

“She won’t. She doesn’t want Jack.”

“That was before he got her pregnant.”

Ianto snorted. “This isn’t some daytime drama, Gwen. She hasn’t made all this up to trap him.”

Gwen nodded. “Suppose she hasn’t. How do we know _they_ haven’t brainwashed her or recruited her to take him away?”

Ianto’s gaze flicked from Gwen’s face to the screen, where Elle’s torture continued. “I don’t know a lot about brainwashing, Gwen, but I’m pretty sure that’s the wrong way to go about it,” he said pointing. It was a total lie, of course. He knew _everything_ about brainwashing, and that wasn’t entirely the wrong way to begin. But he knew, deep down in his soul, where it counted, that Elle’s pain was genuine; _Elle_ was genuine.

“We don’t know that this is everything.”

Ianto reached past her and closed down the computer. “I’m done, Gwen. I know she’s telling the truth. Jack knows she’s telling the truth. If you’re too stubborn or jealous or stupid to deal with it, me arguing with you is not going to help.”

“Ianto—” she began as he started to walk past her.

He paused and turned to face her. “I just hope you don’t do anything that gets her or the baby killed. Because there’s no coming back from that, Gwen.”

Gwen stared after him open-mouthed as he headed to the kitchen.

“What did you say to him?” Owen said, walking up to her.

“I tried talking sense into him.”

“Oh? Sense how?”

“Elle’s injuries. Are they consistent with torture?”

“And how. Why?”

“I’m just worried that something is trying to bring down Torchwood from the inside.”

Owen shrugged. “That’s been tried three times already, Gwen. I think we’re due for an outside demolition this time.”

“But Owen—”

“Gwen, why don’t you go have lunch with Rhys instead of worrying about what’s going on with Jack and his lovers? You love Rhys so much, go spend time with him. We’ll let you know if we need you,” he said, then went to talk to Ianto.


	48. Interrogation Techniques (Elle)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Elle takes a turn at getting through to Gwen.

**Chapter 48—Interrogation Techniques (Elle)**  
“We’re back!” Elle announced as she came up from the garage. “Jack would like you and Owen to go help with the heavy lifting,” she told Ianto.

“What happened to you?” Ianto asked, taking in her smeared top.

“Ah. I made the mistake of trying to eat while Jack was driving.” She hefted the suitcase in her right hand. “I’m going to go change. Tosh is right behind me with food for everyone.”

Ianto raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t you already have lunch?”

“I had one cheeseburger, Ianto. I’m still hungry. In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m carrying around another person. She wants her own burger.”

Ianto chuckled and made to move past her down to the garage. Elle stopped him with a hand on his arm.

“Are you okay? You’re pale,” she said.

“Fine. I’ll be back up shortly.”

“Oh, take the dolly. Tosh brought the Bot back.”

“Of course she did,” Ianto said, smiling.

Elle smiled and watched him go, then headed for Autopsy. “Owen, Jack’s back. He needs your help in the garage. He mentioned heavy lifting,” she called down to him.

Owen groaned.

“There are shiny weapons,” she said.

Owen hurried past her.

Elle chuckled and nodded at Gwen, who was sitting at her desk. “Tosh should be up soon with lunch.”

“I heard,” Gwen said. “Does Jack need everyone to help?”

“He only mentioned Ianto and Owen. He didn’t say anything about you,” Elle said, then headed down to her room.

Gwen waited a heartbeat. She might never get another chance to question Elle alone; she knew Jack and Ianto would rarely leave the pregnant woman alone. After some searching, Gwen found her, not in her new room, but in what Ianto had named the War Room. Jack had suggested Danger Room, but Ianto had pointed out that just because one named a practice room the Danger Room did not mean the team would wear spandex in said room. Neither did it mean that Hugh Jackman would put in an appearance.

“I understand you have concerns,” Elle said as Gwen entered the room, the door closing solidly behind her.

Gwen’s gaze flicked up to the CCTV camera. The little red light was out. She raised a questioning eyebrow.

“I thought you’d like the privacy,” Elle explained.

“No witnesses?”

Elle sighed. “We don’t have a lot of time, Gwen. The others will come looking soon. So I suggest you get whatever weight you’re slogging around and beating Ianto and Jack up with off your chest while you have the chance. Because they won’t put up with it much longer and I, frankly, have even less patience than Jack does.”

“All right,” Gwen said, still hurt and fuming over her confrontation with Ianto. “None of us know you.”

“Jack and Ianto know me.”

“They knew you. Before you showed up here pregnant with some sort of superbaby.”

“So, you think this is some sort of ploy to break up Team Torchwood?”

“I don’t know! All I know is that I don’t understand what’s going on and no one will explain it to me!”

“Bullshit. You know that I have something you want. A connection to Jack. Something permanent. Something Ianto could never give him but something you, in the darkest little part of your heart, thought that you could offer Jack. Something that would make you special. Would make you more than Ianto.”

“How? What?”

“Ianto talks. He talks to me about his life. About the people in it. He had you figured out from second one, Gwen. And although he became closer to you, he always knew you were—”

“A threat?” Gwen asked archly.

“Going to be a problem. I had hoped that, after losing Rhys and getting him back, you’d give up this foolishness. You need to grow up, Gwen.”

“I have! I love Rhys. He is all I want in a partner. But Jack—we need Jack. We need him here. If you go back to them, he’ll follow you. To protect his child.”

“Go back to them? Are you out of your mind?”

“You were Torchwood One. For all we know, you’re following their agenda to get Jack back under Torchwood’s control.”

“Yes. I waited more than a year for something to happen to Jack. Something that would devastate him so badly that Ianto would serve him up to me on a platter to be seduced!”

“That’s not…I meant…”

Elle stepped closer to her. “Do you know what they did to me at Four? Have you watched all the footage?”

Gwen shook her head.

“What?”

“No,” Gwen said, refusing to look away.

“But you saw some of it.”

“Yes.”

“And you asked Owen to verify the scars?”

“Yes.”

“And you think I would go back to _that_?”

“We’ve heard stories about One…” Gwen said feebly.

“You haven’t the vaguest conception under heaven about what went on at One. If you are very, very lucky, you’ll never get a better idea,” Elle replied. 

Gwen just gaped at her.

“You still don’t get it.” Elle laughed harshly. “Do you know what they called me at Four?” she said, her voice filled with acid.

Gwen shook her head, mute in the face of Elle’s fury.

“They called me the Freak’s whore. And you know what they do to whores, don’t you?”

“No,” Gwen breathed.

Elle took a step back. “No,” she said, nodding. “Not while I was carrying such a treasure. But after she’s born, all bets are off. So tell me, Gwen, do you honestly think I would willingly go back to that?”

“No,” Gwen said, her eyes filled with tears. “No, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I thought—I’m sorry.”

Elle nodded. “Good. Now we can get on with the important things,” she said, to the door and wrenching it open. “Yes?” she asked with a smile when she saw Tosh, Jack and Ianto waiting outside the door.

“Lunch is getting cold,” Jack said. “Everything okay?” he asked, taking in Elle’s flushed cheeks and Gwen’s tears.

“Never better. We’re done in here,” Elle replied, walking past them.

Jack followed her upstairs. Ianto shared a knowing look with Gwen before following Jack and Elle.

“What happened?” Tosh asked Gwen.

Gwen sniffed and smiled at Tosh. 

“Doesn’t matter. It’s done,” she said, following her teammates up into the Hub.

“Finally,” Tosh breathed.


	49. Peace Offerings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the team settles into something like a routine and Jack asks for a favor.

**Chapter 49—Peace Offerings**  
“Rift activity!” Gwen shouted from her desk. Jack and Ianto crowded around her to take a look. Ianto hurried to Tosh’s desk and pulled up CCTV footage for the affected area.

“Oh joy. Tusks. Again,” Jack said. “Owen!”

“What?” Owen bellowed back.

“Get your gear, we have a call!” Jack replied at the same volume. Then he tapped his comm. “Tosh?”

“Yes, Jack?”

“Owen, Gwen, Ianto and I are going out on a call. Can you break yourself away from your new toys long enough to coordinate us?” he asked.

“Um, well, I could—”

“Tosh is elbow deep in the guts of an Abledian defabricator. I’ll come up,” Elle said.

“You had a defabricator?” Jack asked.

“Yes. And no, you can’t have it for your personal collection,” Elle replied.

“Spoilsport.”

Elle laughed. “On my way up.”

Jack turned off his comm and looked at Gwen expectantly.

“What?” she asked.

Jack shrugged. “Apparently, nothing. Get your gear and meet us all down at the SUV.”

Gwen nodded, grabbed her gun out of her desk, then hurried to the garage. Owen followed behind, his heavily-laden backpack over one shoulder.

Jack folded his arms over his chest. “Really over it or calm before the storm?” he asked Ianto.

“I’m afraid it’s the calm before the storm,” Ianto replied. He could feel Gwen still roiling just under the surface. Whether that was residual from the dressing down Elle had probably given her or because she was really unresolved, he didn’t know. He was hoping for the former.

“What have you guys got?” Elle asked as she joined him.

Jack jumped, startled. “That’s it. I’m belling the lot of you. Shouldn’t you be waddling?”

Elle arched an eyebrow at him and sat at Tosh’s workstation. “Shouldn’t you be leaving?”

“You’ll be all right?” Ianto asked.

“Please. I have Tosh with me. I’ll be better than all right.”

Jack and Ianto exchanged a look, then turned to Elle, who was familiarizing herself with the system. 

“What?” she asked, noticing them staring at her.

They continued to look at her.

“Are you kidding me? She’s the scariest person I’ve ever met. She gets a wild hair one day and she could take over the world. In _an hour_ ,” Elle said.

Jack tilted his head and thought about it. “I need to start having one-on-ones with the staff.”

“Um, sorry. Are you two planning on joining us for this little party?” Owen asked over the comms.

Ianto moved in the blink of an eye, helping Jack into his greatcoat. 

“Be good,” Ianto said, kissing Elle on the forehead.

“Don’t blow anything up,” Jack added.  
****

Three hours later, bruised but not bloody, the team returned to the Hub. Elle was sitting on the couch reading her own file.

“How are you? Where’s Tosh?” Jack said, joining her.

“I’m starving. Tosh went for food,” Elle replied.

“She left you alone in here?” Gwen asked.

Jack glared at her.

“Well, what if you had had one of those attacks? There’s no one here to help,” Gwen explained.

Elle held up the file. “According to Owen’s readings, Pip and I should be ‘attack’-free for at least a week.”

Jack frowned. “I thought you said the spurts were further apart than that.”

“They normally are, but Owen’s trying to get the dosage right. Some of the chemicals they used he has to synthesize himself. There will be a little trial and error.”

“Is that safe? And does Owen know you have your file?”

“It’s _my_ file!”

“That’s a no,” Jack said, taking it from her. He flipped through a few pages. “You can actually read his handwriting?”

“If you find me some crisps, I’ll tell you everything I know,” Elle replied.

Gwen went to her desk and pulled out a small bag of crisps. As peace offerings went, it wasn’t bad.

“Where are Owen and Ianto?” Elle asked as she tore into the crisps.

“Unloading bodies,” Jack said as the cog door rolled back to reveal a bag-laden Tosh.

“Mmm, my hero,” Elle said, carefully standing to go help Tosh.

Jack beat Elle to it and looked inside the bags Tosh carried. “Chinese? Are you sure you can—”

Tosh and Elle rolled their eyes at him. 

“Okay, that’s creepy. You two are no longer allowed to play together.”

Tosh just chuckled. “We did some research. Elle can eat most things in moderation.”

“Except honey,” Elle added.

“Except honey,” Tosh said. “This place uses no MSG and we both had a craving.”

“Lemon chicken!” Elle said excitedly, following Tosh up to the conference room.

“Come on, I got everyone’s favorites,” Tosh called.

Jack stood watching Elle, a thoughtful look on his face.

“Jack? Everything all right?” Gwen asked.

“Hmmm? Oh, yes. Go on up. I’m going to let Ianto and Owen know there’s food. Then I have to make a call.”

Gwen stared after him, puzzled, then went to the conference room.

Jack tapped his comm. “Ianto. Tosh has food in the conference room. You and Owen should get up there before Elle eats it all.”

“I’m telling her you said that,” Ianto replied.

Jack smiled. “I know.” He turned off the comm and reached for his phone. He hit the speed dial and waited a moment.

“Martha Jones, voice of a nightingale. I need a favor.”


	50. Energy Signatures

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Tosh is awesome, the Hub gets visitors and Team Torchwood gets bad news. Again.

**Chapter 50—Energy Signatures**  
Jack stood surveying the organized chaos Tosh and Elle had made in the temporary archives room. The room was usually empty, unless things were busy and Ianto didn’t have time to get things put away properly in the archives. Everyone put items in here so Ianto didn’t try scalping them for messing up his archives. Right now, the tables and a good part of the floor were covered with the items Tosh had deemed worthy of bringing back from Elle’s home. This was the first time he’d been allowed in the room since Tosh and Elle had started unloading items the day before. They apparently thought he got in the way more than he helped, which he thought was unfair. True, but unfair.

“Did Four know you had this much stuff?” he asked Elle.

“I don’t know. They never bothered to ask me,” Elle replied from her spot on the floor.

“Not that they could have gotten through your security system even if they had,” Ianto said, walking past Jack with a 41st-century flame thrower in his hands.

Jack stopped him with a hand on his arm. “That’s a Paul XVI. That goes in Secure Archives, not the weapons room.”

Ianto nodded and continued on his way.

“Once we get all this sorted, we should really go back and clear out the rest of my house,” Elle said. 

Jack nodded. “I’ll send Tosh and Ianto.”

“I was thinking,” she began.

“Now we’re in trouble.”

“Shut up. I—”

“YESS!”

Jack and Elle both grabbed their ears.

“Tosh! Comm volume!” Jack scolded.

Elle shook her head. “Ow,” she muttered.

“Everyone, get up here! I have something you’ll all want to see,” Tosh said, her voice quieter.

Elle grabbed the edge of the table next to her to pull herself up. Jack marveled at the fluidity of the motion.

“Don’t be so impressed. I’ve been having to get up every 20 minutes all day. It’s a practiced move,” she said as she followed him upstairs.

“Where’s Gwen?” Owen asked as he, Ianto, Jack and Elle joined him at Tosh’s station.

“She got a call from Rhys and left. Said she’d be back soon,” Tosh replied.

“Domestics,” Jack muttered, earning himself a Look from Ianto.

“What?”

Ianto shook his head. “What did you find, Tosh?”

“I’ve isolated the energy signature for the wormhole Torchwood 4’s been using,” she said.

“What? How?” Jack said, moving closer.

“She’s amazing,” Elle said.

“Granted. I meant which amazing skills did she use?” Jack clarified.

“I—oh, hello,” Tosh said, turning her head to come nose-to-bump with Elle. 

Elle laughed. “Just keep talking. She needs to get used to your voice.”

“Er, right. Anyway,” she continued, tilting her head to meet Jack’s gaze, “I started by examining energy patterns from the day Elle came through. I had the time of Elle’s admission and Elle’s best estimate as to how long she was here before that. I filtered out our usual Rift activity, as well as any negative spikes. That only left a few unique signatures. After some more filtering, I found these three signatures,” she said, pulling up an image on her screen.

“All right. So we assume this first one is Elle coming through,” Jack said pointing. “And this one 20 minutes later is the group of people who blew up the hospital.”

“You need to sign that form on your desk getting funds to them to rebuild,” Ianto said absently.

“Then what’s this one? Them going back or bringing in more reinforcements?” Elle asked, pointing to the final spike, which had occurred a few hours after Elle had been safely tucked away in the Hub.

“Sorry, can’t tell. It’s completely identical to the other two spikes, but I don’t know if that’s because they’re all arrivals or because that’s how the energy always looks,” Tosh replied.

“How are you coming with the footage from the hospital?” Ianto asked.

“Not too well. They kept their heads down. I’m trying exterior cameras and other sources now. I’ll let you know as soon as I get something,” she said.

“That’s my girl,” Jack said, dropping a kiss on the top of Tosh’s head.

One of Tosh’s computers blipped.

“What’s that?” Ianto asked.

“Another spike from the wormhole,” Tosh said, typing quickly.

“When?” Jack asked.

“Jack, there’s someone at the tourist office door,” Owen said, looking at another screen.

“Friendly?”

“Don’t know.”

Jack turned from Tosh’s screen to look and grinned.

“Ah. That’s for me. Tosh, find out when and where that spike happened. I’ll be right back,” Jack said, hurrying to the cog door.

They watched Jack leave, then looked at each other, puzzled.

“Well, who is it?” Elle asked, elbowing Ianto lightly.

Before he could answer, a window opened on Tosh’s screen. “Martha Jones, M.D.,” she read. She paused to swallow hard. “She’s UNIT,” she said softly.

Ianto reached down and squeezed her shoulder lightly. She put her hand over his and squeezed back. Above her head, Elle and Owen exchanged puzzled looks.

Tosh’s computer beeped again. She switched to look. “The last spike happened half an hour ago.”

“Where, Tosh?” Ianto asked.

She pulled up an address.

“Isn’t that where we went to take care of those things last night?” Owen asked.

Ianto swore under his breath. “Yes. They can track us.” He tapped his comm. “Jack?”

Silence.

“Jack?!”

The cog door rolled open behind them.

“Woah, hey, relax guys,” Jack said, holding his hands up when he was greeted by four people holding weapons trained on him.

“You weren’t answering your comm,” Ianto said.

“I was right outside the door. Figured I’d wait. You want to put those down?” Jack explained.

“I thought you said your Torchwood was different, Jack,” the woman with Jack said.

“It is. We’re just a little jumpy right now,” Jack said as his team lowered their guns.

“The last spike occurred half an hour ago. They can track us,” Ianto said.

Jack hurried over to them to look at Tosh’s computer, leaving the man and woman who had followed him standing near the entrance.

“Damn it,” he said.

“Ianto was more colorful, but yes,” Tosh confirmed.

“All right. I want everything we had on or with us last night checked for any type of tracking device. And someone call Gwen and tell her to get her ass back in here,” Jack said.

Tosh picked up the phone as Ianto headed for the garage, Elle headed for the weapons room and Owen headed for Autopsy. 

“First, introductions,” Jack called out, causing everyone to pause. “This is Dr. Martha Jones, old friend and world savior. With her is Dr. Tom Milligan, who is smart enough to snatch up a good thing when he sees it.”

Martha smacked Jack on the arm.

Jack just smiled at her. “The lovely lady at the computer is Toshiko Sato.”

Toshiko gave a small smile before turning back to the phone.

“Dr. Owen Harper is in his lab coat—you two will be spending a lot of time with him. And with Elle Atreides, the waddling one.”

Elle smacked Jack markedly harder than Martha had.

“And this,” Jack said, taking Ianto’s hand, “is Ianto Jones.”

Martha held her hand out to Ianto to shake. Instead, he hugged her and kissed her on the cheek. “Thank you,” he said softly.

Martha blushed. “You are quite welcome. Well, let’s get started, shall we? Where is your medical bay?”

“Autopsy right now, I’m afraid. Getting the medical bay set up is next on our list,” Owen explained.

“Actually, third on our list,” Ianto corrected. “First is the tracker, then getting Elle’s house cleaned out. Then we can set up the medical bay.”

“Go get started on finding the tracker. I’ll join you as soon as I get these guys sorted,” Jack said.

Ianto nodded and headed for the garage.

Owen led the way to Autopsy. “No offense, but why are they here, Jack?” Owen asked as they reached the room.

“Martha is a friend who’s…seen a lot in her travels. Tom is a pediatrician and, well—”

“Let’s just say I’m very open-minded,” Tom finished.

“Really?” Jack asked, Grinning.

“Time and place, Jack,” Martha scolded, but smiled as she did so.

“Right. I gave Martha a rough idea of what’s going on, but I knew you’d explain it better. I’ll leave you four to get acquainted. I’ll be in the weapons room if you need me.”

“Jack, a moment,” Owen said, following him up the stairs.

Martha turned to look at Elle. “So, you and Jack…?”

“Just the once. He and Ianto are together. And we’re all having a baby.”

“All right. Where would you like to start?” Tom asked.  
****

“Jack, don’t you trust me to take care of them?” Owen asked Jack quietly once they were in the main part of the Hub.

“Of course!”

“Then why?”

“Once the baby is born, we’re going to need a pediatrician for her. If her accelerated ageing keeps up, we’re going to need one who’ll understand and accept her changes. Tom fits the bill.”

“And Martha?”

“They’re kind of a package deal.”

“So this isn’t…?”

Jack put his hand on Owen’s shoulder. “This is about having the best people taking care of my daughter. You are the best, but that doesn’t mean you couldn’t use some help from someone with more expertise in another field.”

“Says you,” Owen said, smiling.

“Get in there before they start plotting against you.”

Owen punched Jack lightly on the arm before going back into Autopsy.

“Oh sure, for _them_ you put on a smock!” Jack heard Owen say as he went down the stairs.

“Gwen’s on her way back. I think she and Rhys had a row,” Tosh said as Jack joined her.

“Great. That’s _just_ what we need. Anything on the cameras in that warehouse?”

“Still checking. There was a lot of interference when the wormhole opened. I’m trying to get it cleared up.”

“Let me know if you get anything. And Tosh?”

“Yes?” she asked, looking up at him.

“Martha’s new UNIT. I traveled with her. Believe me when I say she is no threat to you.”

She smiled and nodded.

“Good girl. Send Gwen to me in the weapons room when she gets in.”

Tosh nodded and went back to her computers.


	51. Facial Recognition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jack and Gwen have a talk; Tosh gets a feed and Elle wants fed.

**Chapter 51—Facial Recognition**  
Jack looked up from the gun in his hand when Gwen entered the weapons room. Her eyes were puffy and she sniffled back a tear.

“We don’t have time for domestics, Gwen,” he said.

She closed the door behind her. “Really? That’s rich, considering your domestics are living in the Hub!”

He sighed. He especially didn’t have time for domestics amongst his team. “You know, Gwen, I really thought that after speaking with Elle and Ianto, you’d get over this petty jealousy.”

“‘Petty jealousy’? Is that what you think this is about?”

“Isn’t it?”

Gwen let out a sharp laugh. “No, Jack. This is about you disappearing on us and then coming back without a word of explanation. You were different when you came back. Something was wrong and you wouldn’t tell us what it was. You wouldn’t let us in. You had quiet little meetings with Ianto, and then, all of a sudden this woman Elle shows up pregnant and you’re bringing strangers into the Hub.”

“They’re not strangers. They are my friends and they helped save the world!”

“Fine! But that’s probably something you should have discussed with us before opening the door to them.”

“Discussed with the team or discussed with _you_?” he asked, hands on his hips.

“All of us. But yes, Jack, I am your second and should be included in these decisions.”

“Gwen, did it possibly occur to you that there are things I need to keep from all of you to protect you?”

“That’s always your excuse, Jack! ‘It’s for your own good.’ But you never stop to think that we—and the people we care about—could be more hurt by not knowing what you’re involved in! You tell me not to let my life drift, but every decision you make makes it difficult for me to keep Rhys safe. And now you want to bring a baby in here? The child of someone who worked for One and whom we know virtually nothing about?”

“You know everything you need to know about Elle, Gwen!”

“Fine!”

“Fine!”

“Fine!” Gwen said, then took a deep breath. “Tosh said something about a tracking device?” she said, her voice far calmer.

Jack reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. “Gwen, this isn’t like you. What’s really going on? You can tell me.”

Tears filled her eyes again. “Jack, I—”

“Jack!” Tosh yelled, barreling into the room. “I got the footage from the most recent spike.”

Jack squeezed Gwen’s shoulder, then followed Tosh back to her computer.

Owen, Tom, Martha and Elle joined them at Tosh’s computer. 

“The SUV is clean,” Ianto said as he joined them moments later.

“Weapons, too,” Jack added.

“That just leaves our clothes,” Owen said.

“Bring everything back in with you in the morning. Now, about this footage?” Jack said.

“Two-man team came through,” Tosh said, bringing up the footage. “I’m running facial recognition now.”

“Start with Torchwood Four personnel,” Ianto said.

“Already running those,” she replied.

“The Four files are encrypted and password protected,” Jack said.

Tosh just looked at him.

“Right. Wild hair, taking over the world,” he muttered.

“Anyway, it’s running now.”

“Elle, do recognize either of them?” Ianto asked softly.

“The guy on the left was one of the ones who grabbed me. I think his name was Gregory. Standard muscle,” she replied.

“And the other guy?” Gwen prompted.

“He doesn’t look familiar. But other than the guys who grabbed me and a few guards, all I saw was scientists.”

“There’s also the likelihood they’ve been recruiting from wherever Four landed. They’ve been there years, they’ve had time to expand,” Ianto added. “We may not get a hit.”

“Tosh, can you track them from the warehouse?” Jack asked.

“Working on it now. They were picked up by a dark colored sedan; I’m still trying to get an angle that has the plates.”

“Keep working, Tosh,” Jack said, then turned to Tom and Martha. “So, how’s the patient?”

“An absolute dream to work with,” Martha replied, causing Owen to choke.

Jack looked at Elle.

“What? _She_ bothers to warm the stethoscope before using it,” Elle said. “And Pip kicked for her!”

“So Auntie Martha is a hit, then?” Jack said.

“Yep, I’m afraid we’ll have to keep her.”

Martha laughed. “Well, not _keep me_ keep me; Tom and I have to get back to London.”

“We’ll need some way for you to keep me updated on Elle’s progress. Weekly phone calls or e-mails,” Tom said.

“When are you heading back to London?” Tosh asked, turning from her computer.

Jack looked at her, sympathy on his face even as he wanted to admonish her for trying to hurry his friends out the door.

Tosh caught his look and smiled. “If you can give me an hour, I can get one of our laptops equipped for you. You can access Owen’s medical updates remotely over a secure network.”

“That would be great. Thanks, Tosh,” Martha said.

“Hey, if we’ve got an hour, that means we can go get dinner!” Elle said excitedly.

“You aren’t going anywhere,” Jack said.

Elle fairly bounced on her toes. “Jack, I’m _bored_!”

“We can’t risk—”

“We’ve already been out once without the world ending. If we all stick together, we should be fine,” Elle protested.

“Sorry, recent arrival of Four’s goons overrides your boredom,” Jack argued.

“Doctors?” Elle said, turning to Owen, Martha and Tom for help.

Owen, knowing better than to get between Jack and, well, anyone, wisely stayed quiet. Martha looked at Tom, hoping to defer to someone who had slightly more experience with pregnant women than she did.

“Although you could do with some exercise to keep up your strength and regain any muscle tone lost while you were held captive, I’ve got to defer to Jack on security,” Tom said.

Martha fairly beamed.

“Boy are you lucky he’s not _that_ open-minded,” Jack said to Martha.

Tom just smiled at him.

Elle pouted. “I’m liking your taste in doctors less and less,” she muttered.

Jack put his arm around her shoulders and kissed her temple. “How about I bring you a nice, big salad? With a side of double cheeseburger.”

“Lots of ketchup?”

“And chips.”

“All right,” she sighed.

“Tosh, Gwen, Owen, you two stay here with Elle. Doctors, Ianto and I would like to take you to dinner,” Jack said.

“Actually, I’d like to finish up checking last night’s clothes for trackers,” Ianto said.

“Everyone’s clothes are at their homes,” Jack said, puzzled.

Ianto raised an eyebrow at him.

“Oh, yeah,” Jack said, remembering that his and Ianto’s clothes were down in his room. “We’ll bring you something back.”

Ianto nodded in reply, then turned to go examine his and Jack’s clothes.

“I’m going to go burn off some energy, then,” Elle said, heading for one of the practice rooms.

Jack waved her off absently as he took everyone else’s food orders. 

“Gwen, could you keep an eye on this tracking program while I go get Tom a laptop?” Tosh asked.

“Hmm? Oh, sure,” she said, taking Tosh’s seat after the other women vacated it.

“I’ll be in Autopsy if you need me,” Owen said.

“Care to take the scenic route?” he asked, leading Martha and Tom to the lift.

Martha laughed as the stone started upward and Jack barely muffled his disappointment that neither doctor clung to him for support.

“Perception filter?” Martha asked as they reached the surface.

“You would know,” Jack said, tapping her on the nose.

Tom laughed as they stepped off the stone and into the Plass.

Martha looped an arm around each man’s waist. She looked up at Jack and smiled. 

“It’s good to see Elle again,” she said.


	52. Restless

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we get a look into Elle’s thoughts, Gwen is suspicious and Jack tries to be peacemaker.

**Chapter 52—Restless**  
Gwen sat at Tosh’s computer, waiting for the tech to return so she could get back to her own work. Waiting for a program to recognize people who probably didn’t exist in this universe was not her idea of productive work. She’d rather be out doing something active to solve the mystery of Elle and Torchwood Four. She thought if she could just really get her hands into this, she could find a way to crack it all wide open. Find a way to get everything back to the way it should be.

“Sorry. Jack apparently decided to rearrange things in tech storage. I’ll have to get Ianto to change the code again,” Tosh said as she returned.

“It’s all right, love,” Gwen said, standing up.

Tosh nodded and sat down. Gwen waited a few moments before leaning against Tosh’s desk.

“Yes?” Tosh asked absently, intent on getting the laptop ready for Dr. Milligan.

“Don’t you think it’s weird?”

“What?”

“Elle shows up and everyone just accepts her and becomes best friends.”

“Everyone except you.”

“Well, Torchwood has taught me to not take anything at face value.”

Tosh finally turned to look at her. “Mm-hm. If you’re so worried, why don’t you find her on CCTV and keep an eye on her? I have work to do.”

Gwen stood up and went to her desk in a huff. She pulled up various feeds until she found Elle.

“Tosh? Is she…fighting _herself_?”  
****

Elle was restless. She had told Jack she was going to work off some energy, which had been true. But wailing on the heavy bag hadn’t done it for her and she was starting to think the noise of the firing range might not be good for the baby. _For Pip_ , she amended. Now that she was free, she could start thinking about the baby she was carrying as someone who could be born and grow up. Have a life. She curved a palm over her swollen stomach, smiling when Pip gave her a swift boot to the fingers. She was a fighter, just like her parents. She sighed, pulling the handwraps from her hands. She didn’t know how this would work—all three of them Torchwood and knowing exactly nothing about parenting. The lives they led didn’t lend itself to stability. Pip would have enough instability in her life merely from the circumstances of her creation and birth; she needed stability where she could get it. 

Elle walked across the training room, her mind whirling. She had spent too long having no distraction from her thoughts; it was hard to turn her brain off. Even when she slept, thoughts of her child’s future chased her. Just last night, she had had a nightmare where Jack had sent her and Ianto away—sending them somewhere to raise Pip where she would be out of the reach of Torchwood. She woke up with tears on her face and had quietly padded down to Jack’s room, breathing a sigh of relief when she found Ianto and Jack sound asleep, wrapped up in each other. Part of her wanted to believe Jack would be selfish enough to keep Ianto and their daughter close; the Torchwood-trained part of her feared that, when the time came, Jack would make the hard choice. The choice that would break his heart, but protect the man he loved and the team he cherished from the hovering threat of Torchwood 4.

_Unless we can find some way to shut them down completely. Cut them off from this world_ , she thought as she crossed to where the Bot was stored. She had installed some voice commands long ago so she could work with the machine on her own. She made sure the safety parameters were set and did what she had been needing for days.

She let go.  
****

“Incredible,” Tosh breathed, watching Elle fight with the Bot.

“Is it a shapeshifter? Alien? Should we call Jack?” Gwen asked, genuinely concerned.

Tosh shook her head. “It’s a piece of equipment from Torchwood 1. We brought it over from Elle’s house. I didn’t realize she had it programmed to work without a console.”

“Is it dangerous?”

“I don’t think so. She’s been working with it for years. I need to talk to her about the intelligence in that thing,” Tosh said softly, moving back to her monitor to make sure a copy of the feed was recording.

“Could it be dangerous to us?”

“I suppose anything with any sort of AI could be deemed dangerous, but we’ve got it under control.”

“For now,” Gwen muttered.

Tosh rolled her eyes. “I hardly think she’s going to program it to take us out from within.”

“Like Ianto didn’t plan for Lisa to try to take over from within?”

Tosh stared at Gwen, shocked. She could have understood that comment coming from Owen—it was still a minor bone of contention between the two men. Not as much as Ianto shooting Owen, but still…

“Gwen,” Tosh began.

“Never mind,” Gwen said, waving her hand. “I don’t need to hear another defense of St. Elle. I’m going to work on tracking that car.”

Tosh opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off as Jack, Martha and Tom came back through the cog door.

“Where is everyone?” Jack asked.

“Is that dinner?” Owen asked, coming up out of Autopsy.

Jack laughed.

“What? I’m starving,” Owen said, taking the bags from Jack’s hands.

“I’m just used to hearing that question from Elle. Where is she? And Ianto.”

“Here,” Ianto said, coming out of Jack’s office. “Our clothes are clean. Well, they’re free of trackers at any rate.”

“Owen, take the food and our guests up to the conference room. We can all eat in there,” Jack said, shrugging out of his greatcoat. Ianto was there, taking it off him with quiet efficiency; well, the caress of fingers across the nape of Jack’s neck might not have been efficient, but it was part of the routine.

Tosh followed Owen up to the conference room, chatting with Tom about the laptop she was tweaking for him. Martha followed, glad that the other woman seemed to be more at ease with them now.

“What the hell does she think she’s doing?” Jack fairly shouted.

Gwen smiled at him. “Sparring with a robot she stole from Torchwood 1, apparently.”

Jack was momentarily distracted from his fear for Elle by the stab of irritation. “Actually, someone else stole it. She’s just in receipt of stolen goods. Tosh!”

“Yes, Jack?” Tosh asked, turning on the stairs to face him.

“Did you set this up for her?”

“No. Gwen went looking for her on CCTV and found it.”

Jack turned to Ianto. “Remind me to smack some sense into her after the baby’s born.”

Ianto quirked an eyebrow. “I’ll make a note of it. Should I go get her for dinner?”

“Nope, I’ll be bad cop this time.”

“You always get to be bad cop.”

“I’m better with the handcuffs.”

“You cheat to get out of them,” Ianto protested.

“How?”

“I haven’t figured it out…yet.”

“Guys!” Gwen said, pointing at the monitor. Elle was leaning against the wall, doubled over. The Bot was no longer on camera.

Jack and Ianto took off at a run, Gwen following close behind with her gun at the ready.  
****

Elle jumped and yelped when the door flew open. “Give a pregnant woman a heart attack, why don’t you?”

“Are you okay?” Ianto asked.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Jack asked at the same time.

“I’m fine. A little winded; this is the most exercise I’ve had in a while. And sparring,” she said, answering Jack’s question last.

“Is it safe?” Gwen asked, her gun aimed at the Bot, which was sitting cross-legged behind the door.

“Yes, of course it is. I had it go into sleep mode while I caught my breath,” Elle replied, straightening.

“Why didn’t you tell us it was rigged for strict voice-command work?” Jack asked.

“I would have once Tosh got to playing with her.”

“You should have told us,” Ianto said, taking her arm.

Elle shook him off. “Fine. Sorry. Is dinner here?” she asked, leaving the room without waiting for a response.

Ianto followed her.

“Stop trying to soothe me; it’s annoying,” Elle said without turning around to look at him.

Ianto clamped down on the emotions he was broadcasting.

Elle stopped. “I’m sorry. Don’t close off like that,” she said, waiting for him to catch up.

“You scared us.”

“It was perfectly safe. I had all of the safety protocols engaged. She never laid a hand on me,” Elle said, wrapping an arm around Ianto’s waist as they walked.

Ianto pressed a kiss to her temple. “We have enough to worry about.”

“I know. I’m sorry. I’ll even apologize to Jack when he catches up.”

Back in the training room, Jack was watching Gwen, who still had her weapon aimed at the Bot.

“You can put that down, Gwen. It’s asleep,” he said.

“How do we know it won’t ‘wake up’ and come after all of us?”

“Because—”

Gwen held one hand up as she put her weapon away with the other. “Never mind. Because Elle says so, it must be.”

“Actually, I was going to say that Tosh gave the programming a look and cleared it.”

“The console programming, not the actual Bot.”

Jack nodded. “All right. I’ll lock the room up behind us and set the alert to sound in case someone tries to open it from the inside. Does that make you feel better?”

“Immensely,” she replied.

“Good. Let’s eat.”


	53. Objects at Rest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there is dinner, fights and making up. And cuddling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SEEEEEX!

**Chapter 53—Objects at Rest**  
Dinner was a loud, friendly, almost familial, affair. Owen made fun of Jack for having worse table manners than their starving mother-to-be, earning him a handful of chips aimed at his head. Owen laughed and happily ate the chips. At Tosh’s prodding, Martha told them tales of traveling with the Doctor. Ianto watched Jack tense at the request, then relax as Martha began spinning a tale about Shakespeare and witches and academics pumping their fists. Ianto knew Jack would be fine when Jack made the obligatory innuendo about pumping fists. And even with the combined pout of Martha, doe eyes of Gwen, determined glare of Tosh, rude cajoling of Owen, open bemusement of Tom and the offering of sexual favors from Jack, Ianto and Elle refused to tell the story of how they ended up married. 

“Come on, Ianto, you’ve never held out this long on anything in your life,” Owen griped.

“Shows what you know,” Elle said before taking a sip of her drink.

Ianto chuckled and Jack spit his coffee across the table.

“Wait, he held out on you?” Jack asked Elle.

“There was a considerable period of persuasion on my part,” she replied.

“You caved much faster, then, Jack?” Martha teased.

“Well, yeah. But I’m such an omnisexual slut that even bombs aren’t safe,” Jack joked.

“He does draw the line at poodles, though,” Ianto said.

“I’m surprised you never tried to get one off with the Bot then,” Gwen said, her mood having lightened as the meal went on.

“Oh, come on! I wouldn’t have—” he turned to Elle. “I didn’t, did I?”

“I’ll never tell,” she sang.

“Gods, not another Buffy fan!” Jack groaned.

“Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it,” Ianto replied.

“Do you know he can do the entire musical episode? _With_ choreography?” Jack asked the group.

Everyone stared at Ianto, who held his head high even as he blushed. “There is not enough alcohol in the Hub for that.” He turned to glare at Jack. “And that’s a meaningless complaint coming from the man who knows every Sondheim musical forward and back.”

“Are they _trying_ to prove who’s gayer?” Owen asked Tosh.

Tosh rewarded him with a friendly smack on the head.

They all laughed. Jack smiled warmly at Ianto as he purposefully ignored Elle stealing chips off his plate. Ianto leaned forward and gave Jack a soft kiss before turned his attention to Martha.

“Martha, would you like to give me a hand preparing after-dinner coffees?” he asked.

Martha beamed. “I’d be delighted.”

“Can I have one, too?” Elle asked.

“Yes. You’ve been on water and juice all day, so I’ll let you have coffee,” Ianto said, dropping a kiss on top of her head.

Elle muttered under her breath about cheeky men who needed to be reminded who had taught whom how to fight.

Ianto chuckled and led Martha to the kitchenette.

“It’s an interesting family you’ve built yourselves,” Martha said to him as they got coffee mugs out of the cabinet.

“It works more often than it doesn’t,” Ianto replied. “How is your family?” he asked softly.

Martha leaned back against the counter and watched him work. “Better. They’re coping. Tish has had the hardest time of it. She’s healing though; she’s started volunteering time working with Post Traumatic Stress patients.”

“Good. That’s good.”

“How are you, Ianto? Jack told me you remember that year,” she said, placing her hand on his arm.

“It was very hard. But I’ve had a lot of support and helping Jack with his demons has helped me tame some of my own.”

“The Doctor and I were so worried about him. He was so…”

“Broken,” Ianto supplied softly.

“Yes. We were so afraid that when he came back, he wouldn’t be all right. We didn’t want to leave him alone.” She smiled. “He told me that as soon as he saw you, he would be fine. Turns out he was right.”

“His timetable was off and I had help. But yes, he is healing quite nicely,” Ianto said, preparing the last coffee. 

Martha helped him arrange the mugs on the tray. “So, have you three discussed names yet?”  
****

“What do you think they’re talking about?” Tosh asked, nodding towards the kitchenette.

“Hopefully, not my sex life,” Jack said.

Tosh gaped. 

“What? Just because _I_ like talking about it doesn’t mean I want other people adding their commentary,” he explained.

Tosh rolled her eyes.

“They seem to have made friends,” Jack said, nodding at Gwen and Tom.

“Mm…I think they’re bonding over the fact that Tom is marrying a woman with an insane job. Gwen can relate,” Elle said, wincing as she stretched.

“You okay?” Jack asked.

“Yes. That was just more of a workout than I’m used to,” she replied.

“The rounds with the Bot or the way you sped through your food?”

“Ha ha.”

Jack smiled and focused his attention back on Gwen. He should cut her loose early tonight, let her spend some time with Rhys. They had had a fight earlier in the day; maybe if he let her go home to patch things up, it would put her in a better mood. Jack glanced up as Ianto entered the room, tray of coffees in hand. Speaking of things that put him in a good mood…

Ianto caught the look Jack was giving him and smirked.

Martha also saw the look and smiled at the pair. She walked over to Tom and handed him his coffee, their fingers lingering as the mug changed hands.

“What time is your train?” Tosh asked Martha.

Martha looked at her watch. “Actually, we need to leave soon if we’re going to catch it. Is that laptop ready for Tom?”

“Yes.”

Jack took a long swallow of his coffee, then set his mug on the table. “Ianto and I will take you.”

“Actually, Jack, I’d like to talk to Tom about a few things before he leaves. I can take them,” Owen said.

“I’ll come with you,” Tosh said.

Owen smiled. “Good. Then Jack doesn’t have to worry about any of us swanning off on our own.”

“Gwen, why don’t you go with them? Owen and Tosh can drop you at home on the way. Get an early night in with Rhys,” Jack said.

Gwen nodded. “Thank you, Jack. Rhys is just what I need, but my car’s here.”

“Weell, if Jack lets us have the SUV, we can all fit and Tosh and I’ll pick you up in the morning,” Owen said.

Jack looked at Martha. “The only reason they work here is for the SUV.”

“And the weapons,” Elle piped up.

“And the tech,” Tosh added.

Jack chuckled, unable to hold the stern expression on his face at the insubordination of his team in front of one of his dearest friends. “Ianto, you and Elle stay here in the Hub.”

“Jack, it’s just the garage. It’s completely secure,” Elle protested.

“Actually, we haven’t finished all those security upgrades Ianto wanted and some of them were in the garage,” Tosh said.

“Tosh, I thought you were on my side,” Elle said.

“That’s why she’s agreeing with me; she wants you around to help her plan world domination,” Jack said.

“Oh. I can get behind world domination,” she said, nodding.

Martha came over and gave Ianto a hug. He embraced her warmly, then pressed a quick kiss to her cheek. He shook Tom’s hand. “Thank you for coming to help,” he said.

Elle hugged Tom, then Martha.

“Thank you,” Martha whispered in Elle’s ear.

Elle smiled, then laughed as Pip kicked. “She’s says you’re welcome.”

Martha chuckled, then placed a hand gently on Elle’s stomach before following Tom and the others out of the conference room. 

Elle and Ianto stood side-by-side, watching the small group leave through the cog door.

“Why did she thank me?” Elle asked.

“Remember that year that never happened?” he asked.

“Nope.”

Ianto let out a short laugh. “Well, you helped her out when she really needed it.”

“Good. You going to tear him a new one for not telling you he was bringing in outside help?”

Ianto put his arm around her shoulders. “If it had been anyone but Martha, yes. As it is, I’ll let him have a pass on this one.”

“You are such a softie.” She smiled up at him, then kissed him quickly. “I’m going to bed. Tell Jack I said goodnight.”

Ianto nodded and watched her disappear down toward her room. He turned to the task of cleaning up, keeping his emotions in check as he waited for Jack to return.  
****

There were more hugs and kisses exchanged in the garage as Jack said goodbye and goodnight to everyone. He had had to settle with a manly hug for Tom, who insisted he wasn’t _quite_ that open-minded. Jack had laughed and informed the doctor he loved a challenge. He watched the SUV pull out of the garage, then returned to the Hub. He locked up behind him and began powering down the Hub for the night as he moved into the main part. Movement in his office caught his attention. He smiled as he realized Ianto had waited up for him.

“Elle tucked away in bed?” Jack asked, leaning on the doorframe.

Ianto looked up from the file in his hands. “For now. You know how she likes to go wandering when she wakes in the middle of the night.”

“ _I_ know she does that. How do you know she does that?”

“I feel you get out of the bed. Just because my eyes are closed doesn’t mean I’m asleep. Sometimes, I hear the two of you talking.”

Jack walked over to him and wrapped his arms around Ianto. “You should come join us,” he said softly, kissing Ianto’s temple.

Ianto shrugged. “I figured if it were something important, you would have told me about it. Or waited until I was awake to have the conversation.”

Jack pulled back and stared into Ianto’s eyes. Once he looked for it, he could feel the tension radiating off of his lover. “Ianto, we would never make any decisions without you.”

“Wouldn’t you? Not even to protect me? To protect all of us? You wouldn’t just pick up the phone and make another call?”

Jack took a deep breath. “Okay, I should have told you I invited Martha to come.”

“Yes, you should have. You should have also told Elle. Do you have any idea how it makes her feel to have more strangers poking at her?”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t think. Martha is my friend. You know that.”

“Yes, Jack. I know all about Martha. But Elle doesn’t. You should have told me so I could have talked to Elle about this. Tension and surprises aren’t good for her.”

“And letting her go sparring with the Bot was good for her?” Jack countered. He closed his mouth sharply as soon as the words were out of his mouth. That hadn’t been Ianto’s fault—they both knew how stubborn and independent Elle was.

“It was. She needed to get some of that tension out. She’s trying so hard to do everything right with this baby; we have to make it easier for her than we have been.”

“I know. That’s why I brought Martha and Tom in. I wanted Elle to realize she has a whole group of people willing to take the weight.”

“That’s the only reason?” Ianto asked.

“No, but it’s the most important one.”

“What are the other reasons?”

Jack put his hands on his hips. “If you’re so concerned about this, why did you wait until Elle was in bed to bring it up?”

“Because a roaring row between the two of us is exactly what she doesn’t need right now.”

“Oh, we’re having a row over this?”

“Pretty damn close!” Ianto said, his voice pitched in that range that told Jack he was furious. Ianto yelled when he was mad—this tone was reserved for when he would gladly throttle the bloody life out of Jack.

“I don’t understand why you’re so upset about this!”

“I won’t be sent away!” he said, his voice harsh.

“What?” Jack asked.

“I’m in this for the long haul, Jack. No matter how bad it gets. I won’t be sent away, not even if you think that’s what’s best.”

Jack walked over and cupped Ianto’s face in his hands. “Why do you think I would send you away?”

“You’d do it to protect me, Jack. Or at least, you’d try to.”

“Of course I want to protect you, Ianto. But what does that have to do with me calling Martha in?”

Ianto reached up to hold Jack’s wrists. “Martha can call the Doctor.”

“Oh, Ianto,” Jack said, pressing his forehead to Ianto’s. “Ianto, no. I wouldn’t—” He paused to take a deep breath. “I want you safe. I want Elle and the baby safe. And right now, you are. I have no reason to believe I—we—can’t keep all of you safe.”

“But—”

Jack kissed him softly. “I called Martha because I wanted an extra pair of trained eyes and hands on this. I called her because she is a friend.”

“Calling the Doctor never crossed your mind?”

The lie was there; right on the tip of his tongue. He swallowed it. “It crossed my mind. In a moment of blind panic when Elle had that growth attack. Cooler heads prevailed.”

Ianto nodded.

“And I would _never_ do something like that without talking to the two of you.”

“Promise?”

“I swear.” Jack kissed him again. 

“Good. Let’s go to bed,” Ianto whispered against Jack’s lips.

“Mmm…the best thing about fighting is the make-up sex.”

“Who said you were getting sex?”

“I—but—”

Ianto laughed at Jack’s bewildered expression and kissed him. “You’re so easy.”

“So I’ve been told.”

Ianto slid out of his arms. “Finish shutting down up here. I’ll meet you down in your room.”

Jack stole another kiss before turning to do Ianto’s bidding.  
****

Jack took a detour down to Elle’s room to make sure she was tucked in. She was sound asleep on her back, having kicked the covers to the foot of the bed. He pulled the blankets back up and kissed her forehead.

“You’re not going anywhere. You’re home,” he whispered before leaving the room.

He walked quietly to his room, mentally mapping the Hub, deciding where would be the best place to put a nursery, as well as living quarters for him, Ianto and Elle. They would all have to live here, at least until the threat of Torchwood 4 was neutralized. After that, they could work something else out. Elle’s home seemed to have very good security.

His step picked up a bit of a bounce as he got closer to his room and Ianto. He was shrugging off his braces as he walked into his room. 

Ianto was already in bed, covers pooling around his waist and his back to the door. His naked back.

Jack swallowed hard and quickly stripped out of his clothes. As he lifted the covers to slide in beside Ianto, the younger man stirred and began to turn towards him.

“No,” Jack said softly, stopping him with a hand on his shoulder. “Stay like that.”

Ianto obeyed, but looked back over his shoulder at Jack, a puzzled look on his face. Jack smiled reassuringly as he reached into the bedside table for the lube. He found it and slid it under his pillow to warm up before climbing into the bed beside his lover. He wrapped his arm around Ianto’s waist and pressed his lips to his ear.

“I love your back,” he whispered, before nipping lightly at Ianto’s earlobe.

Ianto shivered and pressed back against Jack.

Jack chuckled against Ianto’s skin, then pressed forward, rolling Ianto onto his stomach. “I honestly don’t think I give it quite the attention I should,” he said, then bit the nape of Ianto’s neck lightly.

Ianto moaned and buried his face in the pillow. He stretched his arms up over his head, causing the muscles in his back to shift and slide under his skin.

“Now that’s just playing dirty,” Jack sighed against his shoulder.

“I learned from the best,” Ianto murmured.

Jack began to kiss his way down Ianto’s spine, breaking up the sensual pattern with a lick here or a light nip there. Ianto moaned softly beneath him, his hips twisting against the mattress. When Jack reached the base of Ianto’s spine, he pulled back and looked down at his lover. He smiled as he watched Ianto’s body tense, waiting for Jack’s weight to settle on him. Instead, Jack shifted and began tracing Ianto’s left shoulder blade with his tongue. Ianto groaned in frustration and fisted his hands in the pillow. Jack ran his hands up Ianto’s sides and across his back as he teased the soft flesh with lips and tongue. Before he even realized he was doing it, Jack began licking intricate patterns onto Ianto’s back—promises of love, fidelity and patience. Marking Ianto as his as assuredly as Ianto marked Jack as his own.

“Jack, please,” Ianto whispered, breaking into the older man’s train of thought. 

Jack kissed the nape of Ianto’s neck and settled his weight on top of him, wrapping his arms around Ianto.

Ianto arched back into Jack. “Yes,” he hissed.

Jack chuckled and rolled them onto their sides, one hand releasing Ianto to reach up under the pillow for the lube. “Like this,” he whispered into Ianto’s ear. “Nice and easy.”

Ianto turned his head to take Jack’s mouth in a slow, passionate kiss. Tongues turned and coaxed as Jack slid his fingers carefully into Ianto. 

Ianto hissed slightly at the stretch and pulled his mouth from Jack’s. “You said easy,” he accused, his eyes glinting.

“Too much?” Jack asked, concerned.

Ianto thrust back onto Jack’s fingers. “Not enough,” he corrected, and kissed Jack again.

Jack moaned into Ianto’s mouth, moving his fingers again, finding that spot which made Ianto twitch and sink his teeth into Jack’s lower lip.

“Now,” Ianto whispered against Jack’s lips.

Jack shifted back slightly, his hand running down Ianto’s side to grasp his thigh. He pushed Ianto’s top leg up, giving him better access. Ianto reached back and help Jack’s hip, guiding him as he slowly thrust into him. Ianto groaned and pressed back, wanting all of Jack _now_. Jack laughed breathlessly and obliged, fitting Ianto’s arse into the cradle of his hips. Ianto arched into him, rocking slightly. Jack tilted his neck and bit softly at a spot just behind Ianto’s left ear.

“More,” Ianto panted, his head tilting back to rest on Jack’s shoulder.

Jack slid his right arm under Ianto’s neck, wrapping it around to place his hand on Ianto’s chest, pulling him completely flush against him. The tips of his fingers teased Ianto’s nipple as he increased the rhythm of his thrusts. 

“Yes!” Ianto shouted, his fingers digging into Jack’s hip hard enough to leave bruises.

Jack laughed and shifted his hips, his cock sliding against Ianto’s prostate with every thrust. “Better?” he asked as Ianto let out a keening wail.

“Touch me, Jack, please. Need your hand on me,” Ianto gasped.

Jack let go of Ianto’s thigh and slid his hand over to cup Ianto’s cock. “Like this?”

Ianto shook his head.

Jack shifted his hand slightly, wrapping around just the tip. “How about this?”

Ianto turned his head and bit hard into Jack’s neck.

“Ah! Oh, you mean like _this_ ,” he said, beginning to stroke Ianto.

Ianto nodded, his tongue slipping out to soothe the spot he’d bitten. “Harder,” he demanded. “Need to come. Make me come, Jack,” he whispered.

Jack groaned. He very rarely could deny Ianto anything, especially in moments like this. He slowed the thrusts of his hips and increased the pressure and rhythm on Ianto’s cock, knowing the contrast would further excite Ianto. 

Ianto groaned in blissful frustration, not knowing which he wanted more—to thrust into Jack’s hand or press back against his hips. He finally couldn’t think anymore and let his body drive toward the release it so desperately wanted.

Jack stared down at Ianto’s face, knowing from the parting of his lips just when he reached the cusp of his orgasm. At that moment, Jack bit gently into Ianto’s neck, just where it met the curve of his shoulder.

Ianto shouted Jack’s name and came all over his hand, his body shuddering against him and his fingers clutching desperately onto Jack. Jack paused in his movements, resting his head against Ianto’s shoulder, just enjoying the feel of Ianto’s orgasm washing through his body. The shift in Ianto’s skin and muscles against him had Jack biting hard on his lip to keep from coming. He waited patiently for Ianto’s body to stop shuddering, then moved his hands to Ianto’s hips. He set up a hard, steady rhythm, Ianto moaning and begging for more. It only took moments of burying himself in Ianto’s bliss-loosened body before Jack came inside his lover, gasping out Ianto’s name.

They lay there, panting, their limbs entwined, for long minutes.

“Ianto?” Jack finally whispered, nuzzling the younger man’s neck.

“Hmm?”

“I really, really like make-up sex.”

Ianto laughed and turned his head to kiss Jack. The kiss was soft and passionate, telling Jack without words that Ianto knew this wasn’t make-up sex; it was you’re-not-going-anywhere sex.  
****

Elle was doing her nightly circuit of the Hub, rubbing her stomach and explaining to Pip what all the various sections were used for. If she was going to grow up in Torchwood, she would need to know these things.

She eventually made her way down to the door leading into Jack’s room. It was open, so she peered inside to see if Jack or Ianto was awake and interested in talking or playing cards or anything to keep her mind busy. 

Jack was spooned up behind Ianto, the sheet tangled about their thighs. She was just stepping back when Jack’s eyes popped open. He smiled and held a hand out to her.

“Are you sure?” she whispered as she stepped forward. She wanted the comfort but didn’t want to intrude.

“Ianto,” Jack whispered, nudging his lover.

“Hmm?”

“Do you mind if Elle sleeps with us?”

“Mm-hm. Just grab shorts,” he muttered, reaching out without opening his eyes.

“I’ve seen it,” Elle said, lifting the sheet to slide in beside him.

Jack shifted to get his arm around both of them, his arm sliding against Ianto’s as he too wrapped an arm around Elle’s waist. Ianto smiled and settled softly back into sleep as Jack and Elle looked at each other.

“Did we wake you?” Jack asked.

“Yes. It’s all right, though. There are worse ways to be woken out of a sound sleep.”

“I didn’t realize we’d been that loud tonight.”

“Seriously? I don’t have to _hear_ you. Ianto broadcasts like a freaking beacon.”

“Really?” Jack asked.

“Do not,” Ianto muttered at the same time.

Elle and Jack chuckled.

“Martha asked if we had thought of any names,” Ianto said, shifting to get more comfortable, pulling Elle closer in the process.

Elle rolled her eyes. “That won’t be difficult. Three opinions? No problem.”

“Snark noted,” Ianto said.

“We should name her something that matters to all of us,” Jack said.

“We’re not naming her Sex,” Elle said.

“We could name her Moreldarwan,” Jack said.

“We’re not naming her Sex in _any_ language,” Ianto protested.

“How?” Jack asked.

“You talk in your sleep sometimes.”

“For the record, Moreldarwan refers to an emotional joining with your beloved,” Jack said, indignant.

“Sex,” Ianto and Elle said.

Jack huffed. “You two will probably want to name her something I can’t pronounce without looking like an idiot.”

“Yes, but something that will fully utilize Ianto’s Welsh vowels,” Elle said.

“I can live with that.”

“There is something seriously wrong with the two of you,” Ianto said.

“But you love us,” Elle replied.

“Which only means there is something equally wrong with me,” Ianto stated.

“I guess we’re stuck together, then,” Jack said.

“No complaints,” Ianto said, turning his head to Jack for a kiss. Jack willingly obliged him.

“Me, too,” Elle said. Jack smiled and leaned over Ianto to kiss Elle, too. Ianto waited and also kissed her before they settled into a comfortable silence.

Jack waited for his lovers’ breathing to settle into sleep rhythms before he allowed himself to drift off.


	54. Early Morning Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the light goes on, an accord is come to and the author finally admits the baby is little Rose Harkness-Jones.

**54—Early Morning Revelations**  
Gwen strode purposefully into the Hub, her step only faltering slightly when she saw Jack wasn’t in his office. She changed course and headed down the hallway toward Jack’s room; she may not have any qualms about entering the personal space, but she wasn’t about to do it via ladder. She squelched the thought that it was because it seemed that only Ianto ever used the ladder.

She had left her house early, texting Tosh and Owen to let them know she was taking a cab in to work. She had made her decision last night: she would corner Jack and make him really _talk_ to her. More importantly, she was going to make him _listen_ to her. He had to hear her out; and when he did, he would realize she was right. He was just blinded by his emotions and the perceived threat of Torchwood Four. If she could get him to look at this from another angle— _her_ angle—he would be able to see her problems with this whole situation for what they really were: valid concerns. After all, she and Jack had a connection. She had felt it since the moment they met, and she knew he had, too.

She squared her shoulders and walked straight toward Jack’s door. It was wide open, so she figured he must be awake and about.

Gwen stopped dead when the sight inside the room processed in her brain. She wasn’t surprised by the sight of Jack’s bare back peeking at her over the covers. She wasn’t surprised by Ianto’s arm flung over Jack’s waist. She was, however, shocked by the dark red hair streaming back over Jack’s upper arm. She let out a stifled yelp, then turned and fled into the main Hub.  
****

Jack started slightly at the sound of Gwen’s yelp. He had heard the cog door open, then heard her steps as she came down the hall to his room, so it wasn’t her presence which had surprised him. It was the noise she had made which had disturbed him. He sighed as he heard her turn and run. He cracked an eye open and looked at his bed partners. He’d gotten up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and when he had returned to the bed, Elle and Ianto had shifted and claimed the bed for their own, leaving the edge of the bed for him. He had happily cuddled into them.

“I’ll let you have your way with me on your desk if you’ll handle it,” Ianto said softly without opening his eyes.

“What do I get if I go handle it?” Elle asked sleepily, her head resting against Ianto’s chest.

Jack chuckled and hugged both of them. “You two had your chance. Let me see if I can work this through with her.”

Ianto opened his eyes, seemingly just to roll them. “Yes, please. Do use that _connection_ of yours to our advantage.”

Elle snorted, then let out a sharp cough.

“You okay?” Jack asked.

“Mm-hm,” she said, nodding. “Chest hair.”

Jack laughed loudly, then slid out of the bed. “You two try to get a few more minutes’ sleep,” he said, kissing Ianto’s and Elle’s foreheads in turn. Ianto tilted his head up for a deeper kiss. Jack happily obliged for a few moments, then turned back to the task of getting dressed.  
****

Gwen was sitting at her desk, staring blankly at her computer screen, when Jack found her a few minutes later.

“So, let’s start with why you’re here without Tosh and Owen,” Jack said, clapping his hands once.

She turned to face him and Jack could see tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry. I didn’t—” she cut herself off and took a deep breath. “I wanted a chance to talk to you, so I took a cab in. I checked the identity of the driver and I didn’t close the door all the way so I could jump out if I had to.”

Jack gave her a small smile, pleased with her ingenuity and precaution.

“I called Tosh and Owen to let them know; I didn’t want them to panic when they got to my flat.”

“Wouldn’t Rhys have told them where you were?” Jack asked, rolling Tosh’s chair over to sit beside Gwen.

Gwen ducked her head. “Rhys isn’t…at home.”

“Oh, Gwen. I’m sorry. Is it something you two can resolve?”

“I’m working on it.”

Jack raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t this something you should both be working on?”

She gave him a sad smile. “It’s my fault; it’s up to me to fix this.” She paused to brush away a tear. “Anyway, I came in, intent on getting you alone so we could really _talk_. I’m tired of the others looking at me like I’m some deranged harpy. They think I’m jealous, so they won’t listen when I voice my concerns.” Her gaze was pleading.

“To be fair, Gwen, you’ve—”

“Sounded like a jealous lover, I know. But put yourself in my place. What if an old lover of Owen’s came in, suddenly claiming she’d been abducted by a branch of Torchwood we know virtually nothing about? What if she told us the baby she was carrying was some kind of experiment and she had escaped them? Wouldn’t you look at every scrap of her story, every bit of evidence down to the very basic levels? To protect Owen and the rest of this team? You know you would,” she said, holding up a hand to cut off Jack’s response. “And we’d probably bristle under the scrutiny and Owen would yell at you for not trusting him. But we’d understand, in the long run, that it was for our own good. You want us safe, Jack.”

“You’re right, Gwen. I would look into everything. I _am_ looking in to everything. I have Elle where I can watch her; we have surveillance on her home; we’re trying to track the people who came after her; and I have the two best medical minds I know looking after her. I haven’t left anything to chance. Neither Ianto nor I are taking anything for granted,” Jack said.

“But you let her roam the Hub, you allow her access to our programs. She has far more free rein than anyone else would.”

Jack ran a hand through his hair. “That is true. It’s completely true. But Elle is different than someone off the street. She’s a member of Torchwood. She worked with Ianto. Hell, she _trained_ Ianto. She’s saved his life more times than either one of them will admit.”

“And you?” she asked.

“And me. She saved me. She helped me admit that I needed Ianto. That if I wanted to be here, then I needed to _be here_. Without them, I wouldn’t be here. I’d have come back, but I wouldn’t be here.”

Gwen nodded, and sniffed. “I know. When I walked in this morning and saw you three. I just…I get it now, Jack. I’m going to keep digging into everything. I’m going to keep questioning everything. But I’ll do it with more respect.”

Jack put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed. “That’s all I ask.”

“Good. Now, I think I’ll check on some of those programs Tosh and I left running. Think you could sweet talk Ianto into starting coffees?”

Jack laughed. “He already owes me a favor this morning, so I’ll get him on it.”

Gwen rolled her eyes. 

Jack stood and walked up to his office.

“And Jack?”

He turned to look at her.

“Could I take a long lunch today? I need to take care of things with Rhys.”

“Just keep your phone on so we can track you. I don’t want to lose you when you’re out with lover boy.”

Gwen’s smile tightened, but she nodded before turning back to her computer.  
****

Jack slid down the ladder into his quarters. He felt better for having had the talk with Gwen, but there was still something tickling the back of his brain. Like he’d missed something obvious. He shook himself and turned to stare at Elle and Ianto snuggled into the bed.

“All right, if I have to get up and be productive today, so do the two of you,” he said, humor in his voice.

Elle groaned and rolled over to face him. “I’m pregnant; I need lots of rest.”

Jack quirked an eyebrow at Ianto.

“I’m her pillow,” he explained, a twinkle in his eye.

Jack just shook his head at them, chuckling. “Come on, you two. Duty calls. No rest for the wicked.”

Elle frowned. “Hey now, if I don’t get to rest, then neither does Ianto.”

“You couldn’t have been together that long if you don’t know how wicked Ianto can be.”

Ianto groaned and climbed out of the bed. “If you two are going to talk about me like I’m not here, I might as well grab a shower.”

“Need any help washing your back?” Elle called.

“Or your front?” Jack added.

Ianto ignored them and pulled his boxers on before heading for the showers.

“He’s so easy,” Elle said, snuggling into the pillow.

“That’s not what you said last night,” Jack replied, sitting on the edge of the bed.

“There’s easy and then there’s _easy_ ,” she replied.

“Hmmm. Feel up to getting up for the day? I have a very important task for you today.”

She sat up. “Does it involve actually getting to leave the Hub?”

“No. But we’ll see what Tosh is up to. If she has time we may all take a trip back to yours to pick up the rest of the items you…appropriated from Torchwood One.”

“All right,” she said, stretching. “Oh!”

“What?”

Elle grabbed Jack’s hand and pressed it to her belly. “She’s dancing,” she said.

Jack smiled as he felt the baby move under his hand. “Ianto should feel this,” he whispered.

“He did earlier. She was tapping out what Ianto swears was the bass line for Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds against his stomach.”

Jack laughed. “We’ll have to get some headphones or something so she can listen to music more often.”

“I’m sure Auntie Tosh would love to rig something up for us.”

Jack pictured the look on Tosh’s face at being asked to complete such a task. “I’ll go up and wait for her to come in.”

Elle nodded. “Pip and I are going to go get a shower. We’ll meet you upstairs for breakfast.” 

With Jack’s help, she slid out of bed and stood up. Jack watched her walk away, noticing that her pregnancy was unnoticeable from the back.

“Stop staring at my arse,” she said.

He laughed. “Elle?”

She paused and turned to face him.

“What about Rose?”

She smiled at him. “Already at the top of the list.”


	55. Thoughts From the Aerie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Elle gets a special assignment, Jack gets things moving, and Jack and Elle yell at each other.

**55—Thoughts from the Aerie**   
“This? This is the important task you had for me?” Elle said, looking at the items spread out on the conference table. “And when did you have time to get all these?”

“I asked Tosh to stop and pick up the swatches on her way in. The rest are printouts from searches I had her running in the background the last few days,” Jack replied.

She folded her arms, her forearms resting lightly on the upper swell of her belly. “Were you in on this?” she accused Ianto.

Ianto shrugged. “We were talking about how bored you’ve been. We can’t always hope for a Weevil sighting so you can coordinate us from here. Besides, it needs to be done.”

“But…but it’s so…”

“Normal?” Jack supplied.

“Yes. I’m not real comfortable with normal,” Elle said.

“Then how exactly have you been keeping yourself busy since your ‘retirement’ from Torchwood?” Jack asked.

“You really don’t want to know,” she replied.

Jack looked at Ianto, who coughed to cover a laugh.

“There’s a reason she had the Bot set up to spar with her, sir. Normal is not something people from Secure Archives are wired for,” he explained.

“You seem to do normal well enough,” Jack said.

“I’m very good at adapting, Jack.”

Jack nodded and backed off. Ianto had replied in a tone reserved for dropping lines of conversation.

“So, I have to do this all alone?” Elle asked.

“No, we’re available for suggestions, but we thought we’d let you get in touch with those maternal instincts of yours,” Jack said.

“Which means no picking horrendous colors and patterns in an attempt to get out of this,” Ianto added.

Elle narrowed her eyes at him. “I’m going to need coffee.”

Ianto swallowed his smile. “Coming right up. Croissant?”

“Éclairs. And scrambled eggs,” she said, settling into a chair. “I wouldn’t turn my nose up at pomegranates, either.”

Jack and Ianto looked at each other, smirking even though they knew they’d been dismissed.

Elle ignored them and turned her attention to the stacks of information in front of her. She sighed and began sorting them into piles: furniture, cribs, prams and other.  
****

“Owen,” Jack called down into Autopsy.

“Yes?” Owen replied without looking away from the file in his hands.

“I presume you talked with Tom about the equipment and set up we’ll need for our new medical bay.”

Owen looked up. “Yes.”

“Good. Go through the blueprints with Ianto and find a suitable room to be our new medical area. Let me know what you’ll need as far as modifications and construction before the end of the day. I’ll also need a list of all the medical equipment you’ll need.”

“I’ll go get Ianto and get right on that,” Owen said, setting the file down.

“Everything still okay with Elle and the baby?” Jack asked as Owen met him at the top of the stairs.

“Things are stable. I’d prefer if Elle’s vitals were a little better; she’s within normal range, but not comfortably enough for my peace of mind. I’d also like it if some of her metabolic readouts would improve. She refuses to try anything that might harm the baby.”

Jack nodded. “Anything we can do with vitamins or diet?”

“I’ll go over it with Ianto. He said he’d make a shopping run today.”

“Give the list to Gwen; she’s taking a long lunch, she might as well get groceries while she’s out.”

Owen nodded and headed up to Jack’s office to talk to Ianto.

“Tosh, how are we on finding that sedan?” Jack asked, moving to stand behind her at her terminal.

“I actually have good news,” she replied, turning to face him.

“I love you, Tosh. Now spill.”

She turned back to her computer and opened up a video fee. “I tracked it to this warehouse, where it stayed parked until late yesterday, when it drove north and was parked at a car park outside Cardiff.”

“Tosh—”

“Already called local police and had them cordon it off. They’ve towed it to the police impound. I figured Gwen and I could go take a look at it,” she said.

He squeezed her shoulder. “Way to go Tosh. If you ever decide to go through with that whole word domination thing, I won’t stand in your way.”

She chuckled and stood to grab her things.

“Stay on comms. Leave your phones on so we can track you.”

“Can I—” Tosh began.

“Get the keys from Ianto.”

“Yes!” she said, always glad for the rare opportunity to drive the SUV. She found Ianto with Owen in Jack’s office, looking over blueprints. “Hi!” she said brightly.

Ianto looked up and quirked an eyebrow. “Hello.”

“I need the keys to the SUV. Gwen and I are going on a field trip. Where is she?”

Ianto smiled as he fished the keys out of his pocket. “Last I saw her, she was saying something about checking on Elle.”

Tosh sighed.

“I think she was going to see if she needed a snack or anything,” Owen supplied.

“So she’s decided to stop interrogating Elle?” Tosh asked, both relieved and disbelieving.

“I think she’s finally come to terms with everything that’s going on,” Ianto replied.

“Took her long enough,” Tosh said softly.

“The important thing is that now we have the whole team focused on this. Let’s not look a gift horse in the mouth.”

“Yes, because that worked so well for the Trojans.”

“Tosh,” Ianto admonished.

“Right. Being happy. Moving on. I’ve found the sedan from the footage. It’s at the impound lot; I’m going to collect Gwen and we’re going to go play detective.”

“Keep—”

“Our comms on, I know,” she said, waving over her shoulder as she left the room.

“How come you just hand the keys over to Tosh and I have to sign a ten page waiver?” Owen asked as he watched Tosh walk away.

“Because she’s Tosh and you’re Owen.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it. Now, what if we put a door in this wall?” he asked, pointing at the blueprints.  
****

“My cousin Nerys swears by it. Says it was the only thing besides calzones that didn’t give her heartburn when she was pregnant with her son. We were all certain Geraint’s first word was going to be ‘calzone’,” Gwen was saying as Tosh entered the conference room.

Elle laughed, one hand on her stomach and the other curled around a cup of herbal tea Gwen had brought up to her.

“Sorry to interrupt, but I need to borrow Gwen,” Tosh said.

Both women turned to look at her.

“Tosh! Fantastic. I want your opinion on this, too. Which is more horrid, the yellow and orange stripes or the green background with the white polka dots?” Elle asked, holding up two printouts.

“Green background,” Tosh said automatically.

“It’s unanimous, then,” Elle said, setting it aside.

“What are we doing?” Tosh asked.

“ _I’m_ getting even. What are you doing?” Elle asked.

“Borrowing Gwen. We have a sedan to analyze for evidence,” Tosh replied.

“You found it?” Gwen asked.

“Yes. I tracked it to a warehouse and then to a car park. The police have towed it for us. It’s waiting for our expert investigative skills,” Tosh said.

“They just left it?” Elle said.

“Apparently. Jack’s letting us take the SUV and all the evidence kit we can get our hands on,” Tosh replied.

“Oo, have fun. I’ll be here plotting,” Elle replied, waving them off.

Gwen and Tosh left the room, sharing grins.

“What exactly is she doing?” Tosh asked quietly.

“Putting together a truly awful nursery along with one she’d actually like. She’s worried Jack and Ianto are getting too heavy-handed with their push to put her into a nesting mode,” Gwen replied.

“Oh, I really hope we’re back before she shows them the final results.”

Gwen laughed.  
****

“No,” Jack said, looking over Elle’s shoulder.

“You can’t judge it alone, you have to put it into context with the rest of the items in the room,” Elle replied, smacking his hand away.

“I just want to point out that clowns are considered completely wrong on at least half the planets I’ve visited.”

“Confronting something as scary as clowns on a regular basis will toughen her up.”

“You don’t really believe that,” Jack said, exasperated.

“You didn’t really believe I’d sit up here and nest like a good little girl, did you?” she replied, eyes narrowed.

“I take it there’s something you’d rather be doing?”

“Helping Ianto find and secure possible points of entry; helping Owen make a list of medical equipment you’ll need for the new bay; running recognition programs while Tosh is out in the field; or sparring with the Bot,” she said, ticking the items off on her fingers.

“Okay; maybe in a little while; if Tosh says it’s okay; and not again until after the baby’s born,” Jack replied.

“What?!”

“You were sore and exhausted last night.”

“Because I’d been tied down for weeks!”

“Your body is weakened by everything they did to you,” Jack argued.

“And Owen and I are working on that!”

“We don’t know if the Bot has been tampered with!”

“Have Tosh look at it!”

They were shouting at each other at this point, and had drawn the attention of Owen and Ianto.

“Oi! What happened to not upsetting the expectant mum?” Owen asked from the door.

“ _She_ happened to it!” Jack said, pointing.

Ianto rolled his eyes. “Come on, Elle. Why don’t you come meet Myfanwy properly?” he said holding out his hand.

Elle glared at Jack, then walked over to join Ianto. She turned to Jack before they left. “Sure, you cut me off from exercising with the Bot, but _he_ lets me play with a freaking dinosaur,” she said before taking Ianto’s hand and following him out of the room.

“Hormones?” Jack asked Owen.

“You wish, Harkness. What do you think you’re doing?”

“Keeping her and the baby safe. Gwen brought up a valid point: Tosh hasn’t checked over the Bot itself. Until she does, no one goes near that thing alone.”

“That might have been the better way of explaining it, rather than just ordering her about,” Owen suggested.

“Don’t you start,” Jack said before stalking out of the room.

Owen rolled his eyes and went back to Jack’s office to work with the blueprints.  
****

“I mean, where did this whole fear-the-Bot-and-order-about-Elle attitude come from?” Elle asked, her quiet tone completely at odds with her words. She was stroking Myfanwy’s beak, smiling at the chirruping-purr noises the pteranodon was making.

“He was a little freaked when he saw you on the CCTV. You hadn’t told us you had it programmed to run without a computer interface.”

“Didn’t seem important,” she shrugged.

Ianto nodded and watched her for a few moments. They were up in Myfanwy’s aerie, a place he often came to hide out and center himself when dealing with the everyday intricacies of Torchwood began to press upon him. He had thought it would help soothe Elle’s frayed nerves.

“I think after Gwen came to terms this morning, Jack realized he could start worrying about other things.”

“I knew it would somehow be Gwen’s fault,” she muttered.

Ianto laughed softly. “Will you be all right up here?”

“Do you want to put a harness on me?”

Ianto held his hands up. “I’ll be down in Jack’s office if you need me. You’ve got your comm,” he said, knowing that yelling from the aerie would only upset Myfanwy, which normally did not end well.

She nodded, mostly ignoring him. She waited until he had made it down to the main floor before she moved. She walked over to the edge of the walkway and sat down, hooking her arms over the lower railing and resting her chin on it. She watched Ianto and Owen take over the conference room to work on finding a place for the new medical bay, having been kicked out of Jack’s office. Her eyes followed Jack as he paced back and forth in his office, what she guessed were her medical charts open on his desk. She thought about Gwen finally coming around and ceasing to be an impediment or stressor on the small group. In fact, she had been downright friendly earlier; as though they had been friends for years. 

What was poking at her most, though, was the fact that Torchwood Four had just left their sedan where it could be found without too much effort. It wasn’t like them. Her first thought was that it must have been rigged to explode; but if that were the case, it would have done so as soon as the police attempted to hook it up for towing. It was too sloppy for Four; they had to have a reason for leaving it there, all but waving a big flag at them.

There was a soft shuffling noise as Myfanwy settled beside her.

“Something is rotten in the state of Torchwood,” Elle said, then looked sideways at Myfanwy. “And not just because I’m misquoting Shakespeare to a pterodactyl. Pteranodon. Bloody dinosaur.”


	56. Something Rotten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Gwen and Tosh are awesome, a trap is sprung prematurely and the author ends on a cliffhanger for the sheer, wanton pleasure of it.

**56—Something Rotten**   
“Something’s not right here,” Gwen said as she watched Tosh run her scanner over the passenger seat of the impounded sedan.

“How do you mean?” Tosh replied, straightening to look at Gwen over the top of the car.

“There’s too much evidence in the car,” she said, gesturing to the box filled with evidence bags they’d accumulated in their search.

“They probably don’t have any reference samples in any databases here, so they didn’t think they’d have to worry about leaving anything behind.”

“If they’re original members of Torchwood Four, there’d be a sample in our files.”

Tosh grinned. “That’s what I’m hoping for. I can’t wait to get these back and feed them into Mainframe.”

“But why not take the time to clean the car before leaving the warehouse?”

Tosh came around the car to begin scanning the driver’s seat. “Maybe they didn’t have time. Maybe they had to get rid of it as quickly as possible.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know, Gwen. Perhaps they realized we were tracking them.”

“Which means they can track our searches or…they have someone on the inside,” Gwen said, her eyes going wide.

Tosh pondered this. “As soon as we get back, I’ll run an independent search to see if anyone’s been following my searches. It should be impossible, but this is a branch of Torchwood we’re talking about.”

“Right. That’s the only explanation that fits.”

“Of course it is. Bag,” she said, holding her hand out.

Gwen gave her an evidence bag and Tosh put a strand of hair in it.

“There’s no one inside the Hub that would be helping…” Tosh trailed off.

“Tosh?” Gwen prompted.

“We have to get back to the Hub.”

“Shouldn’t we finish here?”

“This can wait. We have enough to begin running searches. We have to get back to the Hub now,” she said, reaching up to activate her comm.

Gwen quickly picked up the box of evidence before running after the smaller woman. When she reached the SUV, Tosh was in the passenger seat, working at her laptop. Gwen shrugged and got behind the wheel.  
****

“Yeah, Tosh?” Owen said as Tosh called him over the comm.

“Where’s Jack?” she asked.

“He and Ianto went into the warehouse to check it out. Why?”

“Are you with them?” she asked.

“Yes, they left me to man the getaway car.”

“You left Elle alone in the Hub?”

“Yes. She was still looking at nursery items. We figured she’d be safe,” Owen explained.

“Is the dead box still in Jack’s safe?” she asked.

Owen could hear Gwen repeat “dead box” in the background. “As far as I know, why?”

“I’ll explain when we get back. Get Jack and Ianto on their comms —I think the warehouse may be a trap.”

Tosh clicked off her comm and sighed as her laptop gave her what she wanted. “I am really, really sorry about this, Elle,” she whispered, then typed in three keystrokes.

“What did you just do?” Gwen asked.

“I just put the Hub into lockdown.”  
****

“Shit!” Owen said as Tosh clicked off. He tapped his comm. “Jack! Jack, can you hear me? It’s an emergency!”

“What part of ‘running silent’ was unclear?” Jack hissed.

“Just heard from Tosh. The warehouse is a trap. Get out. Now!” Owen said, trying to keep his voice even so he couldn’t be overheard through Jack’s comm.

“Iant—”

Jack’s voice was cut off by the sound of gunfire.

“Fuck!” Jack said.

“Jack!” Owen shouted. He could hear Jack grunting and swearing and the sound of more gunfire.

“Start the car and open the doors. We’re coming out running,” Jack said through what sounded like gritted teeth.

Owen started the car and threw open the doors on the passenger side of the car. Jack and Ianto came running out through the warehouse door, Ianto turning back to fire and Jack trying to keep himself between Ianto and their pursuers. He finally grabbed Ianto by his collar and shoved him into the car. As soon as Jack was halfway into the seat beside Owen, the doctor slammed his foot down onto the gas and tore into the street.

“You okay, Ianto?” Jack asked once he realized they weren’t being followed.

Ianto grit his teeth. “I told you it was a trap.”

“And I told you to wait in the damn car!”

Owen spared a look in the rearview mirror and saw that Ianto was pale and sweating. He turned his head and saw the blood coating Ianto’s arm.

“Fuck, Jack! He’s been shot!”

“What?!” Jack said, turning in his seat, then trying to climb into the back seat of the car.

“It’s just a graze; I’ll be fine,” Ianto said.

“Liar.”

“Keep pressure on the wound, Ianto,” Owen said, driving like he was channeling Jack. He keyed his comm. “Tosh, meet me in the garage with my standard gunshot kit.”

“Sorry, Owen. We’ll have to meet you in the outer garage,” Tosh replied.

“Why? What’s going on?” Jack said, having heard it all over the open channel.

“I triggered a lockdown. We can’t get in until you get here to lift it with your wrist strap,” Tosh replied.

“What the hell is going _on_?” Jack shouted.  
****

“Report. Now!” Jack shouted as he leapt from Ianto’s car.

Tosh calmly handed Owen’s kit to him before answering. Jack barely glanced at Owen as he opened the rear door of the car and began helping Ianto out of his coat and shirt.

“Tosh!” Jack said.

“There was too much evidence in the car, Jack,” she said.

“What?”

“Enough to keep us busy for hours, which they did,” Gwen said. “We would still be there if Tosh and I hadn’t caught on.”

“And you and Ianto wouldn’t have had warning at the warehouse,” Tosh added.

Jack stared at them, waiting for more.

“They know we’re tracking them, Jack. They knew I could find them, so they left the car for us like a present and then waited for us at the warehouse,” Tosh explained.

Jack ran a hand through his hair. “Probably hoping to grab Ianto.”

“Or you. Or one of us,” Gwen said.

Jack looked back over his shoulder at Owen, who was swearing and arguing with Ianto. “Problem?” Jack asked.

“Yeah. His ‘graze’ is lodged in his left bicep!” Owen said.

“Can you get it out?”

“I _can_ , but it would be better if we were in the Hub.”

“Tosh?” Jack said, turning back to face her.

“You can open the Hub with your wrist strap, just like we discussed.”

Jack flipped open his wrist strap.

“Wait!” Tosh said, reaching for him.

“Ianto. Bleeding. Talk fast.”

“The only way they could have known I was tracking them is if they somehow managed to backtrace my searches or they have someone on the inside,” Tosh explained.

“What? You don’t honestly think—” he began, his eyes flicking to Gwen.

“I think the tracker we pulled out of Elle is immune to the dead box,” Tosh said, cutting him off.

“How?”

“I don’t know. I locked down the Hub so no one could get in there as soon as I found out Elle was alone inside,” Tosh said.

Jack breathed a sigh of relief. “Can I unlock the Hub now?”

“Yes,” Tosh said.

Jack pressed a series of buttons. Tosh ran to her computer.

“Everything’s good,” she said.

“Everyone in the SUV,” Jack said, hurrying over to help Owen with Ianto.

“Lock up my car, will you, Jack?” Ianto asked.

Jack did as he was asked and moments later the false wall opened to admit the SUV into Torchwood’s garage. Ianto and Owen led the way inside, with Jack, Gwen and Tosh bringing up the rear as Owen muttered about stubborn teaboys.

They all stopped dead at the sight of a bloodied Elle flopped over Tosh’s terminal.


	57. Blow Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a cliffhanger is resolved, Ianto is half-naked, and the author tempts fate, a painful death and beatings by her readers.

**57—Blow Up**  
Owen let go of Ianto and walked cautiously over to Elle. Jack was close on his heels. Owen leaned forward and placed his fingers against her neck.

“No pulse,” Owen said softly.

Jack crouched down next to the body. “No baby,” he said, then stood. “It’s really us,” he said loudly.

“What the _fuck_ is going on around here?” Elle replied from the aerie. She was looking down at them from the walkway, a rifle slung against her shoulder.

“You. Down here, now. I want to know what that—” Jack pointed at the Bot, “is doing out of the room I said it had to stay in.”

“Are you okay, Ianto?” she asked as she started moving down to them.

“Just winged. I’ll be fine,” he replied, swaying a little. Tosh and Gwen stepped up to flank him.

“Come on, love, let’s get you into Aut—let’s get you where Owen can take a look at you,” Gwen said.

Jack turned back to them. “Owen, you take care of Ianto. Gwen, help him. I need Tosh with me.”

Owen nodded and took Tosh’s place. He and Gwen led Ianto down into Autopsy.

“Tosh, go down to the firing range. Make sure we have a flame thrower, armor-piercing rounds and anything sonic we have. Get rid of anything else that’s in there that could blow up or otherwise cause injury,” Jack said.

Tosh nodded and headed for the range.

“What about me?” Elle asked as she reached Jack. She set the rifle on Gwen’s desk.

Jack turned Gwen’s chair around and planted Elle in it. “What the hell were you doing?” he asked, bracing his hands on the arms of the chair, trapping her.

Elle’s eyes flared. “Back up. Now.”

Jack realized his position and stood up straight; not moving far, but giving her some space. He folded his arms over his chest. “Why is the Bot out?”

“I got bored putting the nursery together alone. It was too quiet after you all left. I knew you wanted a diagnostic run on the Bot. I may not read code like Tosh, but I knew I’d be able to tell if something was different. I borrowed Ianto’s laptop from the tourist office and hooked her in. I wanted to make sure that if there was a flaw in her programming, it wouldn’t infect Mainframe,” she explained.

“Did you find anything?”

“I barely had time to hook her into the laptop before the Hub went into lockdown.”

“And all the blood? The Bot doesn’t bleed,” he said.

“We have strawberry jam and chocolate syrup in the fridge. It looks enough like blood to fool someone who doesn’t look too closely,” she replied.

“Or lick it,” Jack said faintly.

She nodded. “If it wasn’t you guys coming into the Hub, I needed an edge.”

“How did you get the rifle? The weapons room and the lockers are inaccessible during lockdown.”

Elle fidgeted.

“How did you get it?” he repeated.

“I have done nothing to betray you.”

“What?”

“You think I don’t know when I’m being interrogated?” she asked, keeping her voice low so it wouldn’t carry into Autopsy.

“Fine. Ianto, Owen and I just walked into a trap. We are extremely lucky that Tosh warned us in time. Tosh thinks the implant we pulled out of you may be broadcasting through the dead box. I think their intel is too personal for it to have come from a chip locked away in my safe.”

“You’re probably right. So go ahead, have Tosh check all the CCTV footage of me. Have her check any and all access I’ve had to computers,” she said.

“I will. Now, where did you get the rifle?”

“I took it out of the weapons room two nights ago,” she said.

“Why?”

She snorted. “Why? Because I have a bloody rogue branch of Torchwood after me! People who held me captive and tortured me for two months. I wanted to make sure that if those bastards came after me, if they got inside, they wouldn’t get their hands on me. I’m sure you can understand that.”

Jack ran his hand through his hair. “Why didn’t you just ask?”

“I thought you might have said no.”

“I want a list of the weapons you’ve taken and where you’ve hidden them.”

She nodded.

“I want you in the conference room making that list and I want you to stay in there until I tell you otherwise. Is that clear?” Jack said, his tone making no mistake that it was an order.

“Sir,” she said, nodding. She eased out of the chair. “You’ll let me know how Ianto is?”

“Of course. I may be pissed off at you, but I won’t be cruel,” he said, reaching out his hand to her.

She nodded and started walking to the conference room.

“O-kay. So I’m not the only one who’s pissed,” he muttered, turning toward Autopsy.

He heard Ianto swearing at Owen as he reached the stairs. “How’s our patient?” Jack asked, jogging down the steps.

“He’s a spectacular pain in the arse and keeps rambling about the irrevocable damage to his suit,” Owen said. Ianto was lying on the table, his torso naked and a sheet draped at his waist. Owen had cleaned the area around the wound and was holding a scalpel over it. Gwen was standing to his side, aiming one of Owen’s bright lamps at the wound.

“’Not rambling,” Ianto said, mutiny in his slurred voice.

Jack looked at Owen, who shrugged.

“I _may_ have given him a rather strong painkiller,” he confessed. “The Bekaran scanner shows the bullet isn’t lodged in the bone, which is good. I just have to remove it, patch him up and pump some more blood into him. Rest and light duties will round out the prognosis.”

Jack nodded. “Let me know if you need anything. I’ll be with Tosh.”

“How’s Elle?” Ianto asked.

“She’s pissed,” he said, taking Ianto’s free hand. “You listen to Owen. I’ll be back soon,” he said, then kissed Ianto softly.

“Oi! This will go a lot faster if you stop molesting my patient!” Owen protested.

“You’re the one who got him half naked!” Jack said, Grinning.

“Mmm…you can get me the rest of the way naked later,” Ianto said sleepily.

“Out!” Owen ordered Jack.

Jack pressed a final quick kiss to Ianto’s forehead, then left the room. He went to his office and got the dead box out of his safe. He carefully carried it out of the room, glancing up to the conference room as he walked to the firing range. Elle was staring down at him. She nodded once at him.

Jack returned the nod, then picked up his pace.

Tosh was waiting for him in the firing range. “What now?”

“Now, you go back to your desk and get the Bot moved down to one of the cells. Run the diagnostic on it. If it’s clean, put it in the weapons room. If it’s not, shut it down and come get me,” Jack said.

“You don’t need me here?” she asked.

“I’m sure I could use your intelligence, but if this thing’s booby trapped, I’d rather it only killed me.”

Tosh’s eyes darkened. “What makes you think any of us are okay with you dying?”

“So not the time to be having this conversation,” Jack said, looking down at the box, then back up at Tosh.

“Fine. I’ll just go check on Ianto, then.”

“He’s in quite capable hands. The Bot first, then you can go coddle him.”

Tosh rolled her eyes before leaving the room.

Jack set the box down on a table, then used his wrist strap to seal the room. If the chip did cause an explosion, the damage would be contained.  
****

Despite Jack’s thinly veiled order, Tosh went to Autopsy before beginning work with the Bot. She found Owen sticking forceps into the arm of a softly snoring Ianto.

“What did you give him?” she asked.

Owen snorted. “Standard painkillers. That’s mostly the blood loss snoring.”

“Where’s Gwen?”

“She said she had to keep a lunch date with Rhys,” he said, twisting his wrist to get a better purchase.

“Now? In the middle of all this?” Tosh asked, incredulous.

“She said Jack approved it and that she would stay on comms.”

Tosh rolled her eyes and ran up into the main Hub. She went to Gwen’s desk and pulled up the CCTV footage. She saw Gwen walking quickly across the Plass. Shrugging, Tosh turned her attention to the Bot.  
****

Gwen saw Rhys standing on the sidewalk, a confused expression on his face, and started to run toward him.  
****

Owen pulled the bullet out of Ianto’s arm and held it up to the light. He was confused by the odd color and shape of it; it wasn’t their usual ordinance. He shrugged, thinking he’d give it to Tosh to play with and moved to drop it into the metal bowl on his tray.  
****

Jack opened the dead box and carefully placed the chip on the table. He scanned it with his wrist strap, trying to pick up any signal other than a regular homing frequency.  
****

The explosion was deafening.


	58. Fallout

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which another cliffhanger is resolved, the team jumps into action, a favorite supporting character of the author’s shows up, and the author cements herself in the Evil Writers’ Evil League of Evil.

**58—Fallout**  
“Owen!” Tosh screamed from her terminal.

Owen jerked, dropping the forceps and the bullet. “What the hell was that?” he hollered back.

“Get here now!” she shouted.

Owen looked down at Ianto, who had been awakened by the vibrations from the explosion and Tosh’s shout.

“Go,” Ianto said hoarsely.

Owen opened a large sterile pad and pressed it over the wound in Ianto’s arm. “Keep pressure on that and don’t move until I get back,” he said, placing Ianto’s hand over the gauze.

Ianto nodded and turned his head to follow Owen’s progress out of the room. For a moment, he toyed with the idea of disobeying the doctor’s orders and following him, but the wave of dizziness when he moved convinced him otherwise.

“Jesus!” Owen said as he saw the view on Tosh’s screen. He ran back to Autopsy to grab his triage kit.

“What the hell is going on?” Jack asked as he joined them.

“An explosion in the Plass,” Tosh explained, her eyes wide.

“What? Is that Gwen?” he was moving to follow Owen onto the lift before Tosh had an answer. “The rest of you get armed and stay inside!” Jack shouted down to them, flipping his wrist strap open.

“What’s he doing?” Elle asked as she reached Tosh.

There was an ominous grinding noise as Owen and Jack reached the surface.

“He’s just sealed us in,” Tosh replied.

“But all the lights are on.”

“It’s not a full lockdown,” Ianto said from the doorway to Autopsy.

“Dammit, Ianto!” Elle scolded, hurrying over to him. She got his good arm around her shoulders and helped him into Gwen’s chair.

“What happened, Tosh?” Ianto asked, sweat on his brow and upper lip.

“Owen said Gwen had gone to meet Rhys for lunch. With everything that’s happened today, I wanted to make sure she was okay. I pulled up the feed for the Plass. I saw Rhys on the sidewalk and Gwen ran toward him. The next thing I knew, there was a huge explosion,” Tosh said. 

“Run the footage back, Tosh. Let’s see what happened,” Elle suggested.

“Pull up the other cameras from the Plass, too. See if we can’t get a better angle,” Ianto suggested.

“You should be lying down,” Tosh said, even as her fingers flew across the keyboard to do as he asked.

“I’ll lie down when we can afford for me to be out of commission,” he replied.

“You’re bleeding again,” Elle said, then headed for Autopsy for bandages.

“Jack’s going to kill you,” Tosh said, her eyes never leaving her computer screen.

“I don’t think he’ll have time for that for a while.”  
****

Jack and Owen reached Gwen first. Owen found a pulse. “She’s alive. Try to bring her around, but _don’t_ move her,” he said, then hurried off to attend Rhys.

“Move it! I’m a doctor,” he said, pushing through the small crowd.

“Has anyone dialed 999?” Jack asked.

“I did, soon as I heard the explosion,” a young woman, whom Jack recognized from the local coffee shop, replied.

“Good,” he said, then looked down at Gwen. He reached up and tapped his ear. “Tosh, can you hear me?” he asked softly.

“Yes, Jack. We’re online.”

“‘We’?”

“Tosh and I are looking at footage, Jack,” Elle said over the comms.

“I thought I told you to stay put,” he said.

“Explosion trumps busy work. What do you need from us?” Elle said, frustrated.

“Make sure we get a lot of footage of the crowd. I want facial recognition run on everyone.”

“How are Gwen and Rhys?” Tosh asked.

“Gwen’s unconscious. Owen’s working on Rhys.”

“Ambulances are about four minutes away, Jack,” Tosh said.

“Yeah, I can hear them. Once we get Gwen and Rhys to the hospital, I want you up here with scanners, Tosh,” Jack said.

“You’ll have to unlock us,” she said.

“As soon as you run facial recognition. I don’t want to take the chance of anyone getting snatched by Torchwood Four,” Jack replied, then turned off the comm. 

“Come on, Gwen,” Jack said softly, tapping her cheeks. “Gwen, wake up.”

Gwen coughed and groaned. “Rhys?”

“Owen’s with him. The ambulance is here. Do you know what happened?”

“Rhys!”

“Gwen, look at me!”

Her eyes rolled in her head until she focused blearily on Jack. “Jack?” she whispered.

“Yes. There was an explosion. Do you remember anything?” he asked as paramedics descended upon them.

“I’m sorry, Jack,” she said just before Jack was pushed back. He stood up and hurried over to where Owen and another set of paramedics were working on Rhys.

“How is he?” Jack asked Owen.

“Not good. We need to get him into surgery,” he replied, helping the paramedics lift the gurney.

“Go with them to the hospital. Keep me posted. You call me when you’re ready to leave; no one goes anywhere alone.”

“Got it,” Owen said, then jumped into the back of the ambulance with Rhys.

Jack watched Gwen be loaded into the other ambulance, then turned to go back into the Hub. He sighed when he saw the woman blocking his path.

“I should have known you’d be involved,” Kathy Swanson said.

Jack put on his most charming smile. “Hello, Kathy. Would you believe I was just out for a walk?”

“Not even a little bit. Especially since your co-worker is examining the smoking remains of that car,” she said, pointing over her shoulder with her thumb.

Jack turned to see Tosh using a scanner on the remains of the car. Every once in a while, she would pause to take a sample. Jack sighed, deciding he’d have to have another talk with her about orders and opening doors he locked.

He cleared his throat and smiled at Kathy. “Okay. I heard the explosion and came to investigate.”

“I suppose I won’t find out that the two people loaded into ambulances were members of your team?”

“Well, only one of them works for me.”

“So you’re going to stand there and tell me Torchwood has no involvement?” she asked.

“Actually, I’m going to pull rank and take over. This is a Torchwood investigation.”

“Now listen here, Harkness!”

Jack took her elbow and led her away from the wreckage. “I have reason to believe this bomb was directly targeting members of my team.”

“Who did you piss off this time, Harkness?”

“Oh, you wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” he said, his smile harsh.

She folded her arms across her chest. “Try me.”

“I’m protecting a woman who was held captive and tortured by a group of people that desperately want her back. They’re willing to do anything to make me give her up.”

“Jack, I have what I need. I’m going back inside,” Tosh said as she hurried past him.

“Well, Detective Swanson. I guess this means the crime scene is yours now. Good luck!” he said, then turned to follow Tosh.

Swanson grabbed him by the arm. “Hold on, I thought you said this was a Torchwood investigation.”

“It was. We have what we need. We’re going to hand it back over to you in case this is just some random act of terrorism. I’ll keep you posted,” he said, gently removing her hand. “If you’ll excuse me, I have some colleagues to check on.”

“I—but—damn it, Harkness!” she shouted at his back. Then she turned and grabbed the nearest officer. “I want that wreck impounded and checked over. I want every bit of footage from the last 24 hours. I want guards on the two people that just left in the ambulances. And I want it before Torchwood gets a chance to muck this all up.”

The officer nodded and hurried on his way, talking into his radio.  
****

“What the hell are you doing out of bed?” Jack asked as soon as he entered the Hub.

“I’m running back the past 24 hours of footage from the Plass to see where the car that exploded came from,” Ianto replied without looking at him.

“You’re bleeding all over the place,” Jack said, hurrying over to him.

“That’s because the stupid bastard won’t let us stitch him up,” Elle said from Owen’s computer, where she was tracking the ambulances’ progress.

Jack grabbed the chair Ianto was in and spun it around. “Get your ass down into Autopsy right now,” he fairly growled.

“We have to find out who did this,” Ianto protested.

“We know who did this. I need you to take care of yourself. I need you at full strength.”

Ianto tightened his jaw. “Jack.”

“Please.”

Ianto nodded and let Jack help him into Autopsy. Jack tried to ignore how heavy and uncoordinated Ianto was. Tosh followed him down and got out the suture tray.

“My stitches will be neater,” she explained softly. 

Jack nodded, settling Ianto onto the exam table. He winced as he pulled away the blood-caked gauze. 

Ianto whimpered, his energy fading now that he’d stopped. 

“Shh, it’s okay,” Jack soothed, kissing his forehead.

“He probably needs a transfusion,” Tosh said quietly, rolling a stool over next to Ianto. She pulled the metal tray with the suture kit on it close to her. She began irrigating the wound.

Ianto whimpered again. “Jack,” he said softly.

“Shh. Let Tosh take care of you. I’ll be right back,” he said, then kissed him softly.

Ianto nodded and settled himself more comfortably.

“I need you to hold still for me, now,” Tosh said quietly.  
****

“Tell me you have something,” Jack said to Elle as he joined her at Owen’s computer.

“It’s our friends we saw the other day. Tosh ran a frequency analysis and it looks like they waited until Gwen got near it to blow it up.”

“Damn it. I am tired of these guys being out in front of us like this.”

“We’re doing our best, Jack!”

Jack’s cell phone rang. Jack answered without looking, expecting it to be Owen.

“Hello, Jack,” the man on the other end said.

“Who is this?” he said, motioning at Elle.

Her eyes widened and she nodded, starting a trace.

“A trace won’t be necessary, Jack. Check your tourist office camera.”

Jack took over from Elle and brought up the feed. Standing outside the tourist office door was a man he’d never seen before, but who caused Elle to gasp.

“I’m Dr. Guppy. I decided to stop beating around the bush and come straight to the source.”

“Sorry, we’re closed,” Jack snarled into the phone.

“Indeed? And how is young Mr. Jones?”


	59. Straight to the Source

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Tosh is awesome, Elle is on her hands and knees, and Jack has a conversation with Torchwood 4’s version of pure evil.

**59—Straight to the Source**  
Jack’s hand tightened on his phone. “He’s fine. Right now, he’s tracking down who left that car in the Plass. In fact, he may even be whistling while he works.”

“Really? You may want to make sure there’s something soft for him to land on when he falls out of his chair,” Guppy replied.

“I’ll take that under advisement. Maybe I’ll see if he wants to go lie down.”

Guppy snorted. “Of course. Any excuse to get him into bed, eh, Jack?”

“It’s the vowels. They do something to me,” Jack replied, not taking his eyes off Guppy’s image on the screen. He watched the other man’s expression harden.

“We need to talk, Jack,” he said.

“We are talking.”

“Face to face, Jack. Just the two of us.”

Jack remained silent.

“Come on, Jack. It’s not as if I can kill you. At least, not permanently. What do you have to lose?”

Jack looked over at Elle.

“All right, have it your way. Come out and talk to me or I’ll have to do something uncouth like threaten the lives of your friends in the hospital.”

“Fine. I’ll meet you out on the Quay,” Jack snarled, then hung up. He ran to Autopsy, Elle close on his heels.

“Tosh! How is he?” Jack asked, hurrying down the stairs.

“Asleep and sporting some very fine stitches,” she replied.

“You’re sure? His vitals are all okay?” Jack asked, running his fingers through Ianto’s hair. “He feels hot.”

“He was sweating from the exertion.”

“Check his vitals,” Jack said.

“All right. What’s going on?” Tosh asked.

“I just got a call from Dr. Guppy of Torchwood Four. He asked if Ianto was okay,” Jack explained as Tosh took out the thermometer.

“Maybe they didn’t know where Ianto was shot. Maybe he thinks it’s worse than it is,” Tosh said, taking Ianto’s temperature.

“Not their kind of mistake,” Elle said, looking at the tray Owen had been using when extracting the bullet. She looked up at Tosh. “Where’s the bullet?”

“I don’t…his temperature’s elevated,” Tosh said as the thermometer beeped.

Jack and Tosh sprang into action, dragging equipment over and hooking Ianto up to it.

“His pulse is thready,” Tosh said.

“Ianto! Ianto, look at me!” Jack said, his voice harsh as he lightly smacked Ianto’s cheeks to bring him around.

“Got it!” Elle said from the foot of the table.

Jack looked down to see she was on her hands and knees on the floor.

“What?” he asked.

“The bullet. Hand me the forceps, will you Tosh?” she asked.

Tosh did so immediately, also handing the other woman a metal dish.

Elle held the bullet up to the light, a frown creasing her face.

“What?” Jack asked, his chest clenching.

“It’s Secure Archives ordinance. We used to use it when we needed to get a sedative or other substance into a target,” she said, dropping the bullet into the dish. Tosh helped her stand.

“What was in it?” Jack asked.

“I don’t know. Tosh will have to run some tests on it. Use gloves, Tosh. The bullet’s mangled; there’s no telling how much of whatever was in it is coating the bullet,” Elle said, handing the dish to Tosh. She tossed the forceps onto the tray.

“I have to go talk to him,” Jack said, staring down at Ianto.

Elle nodded. “Be careful.”

He lifted his head to look at her. “I want you on comms. You know him better than any of us; I want you observing him and ready to give me a report the second I step back through the door.”

“Absolutely,” she replied, then went up to Gwen’s desk.

Jack looked at Tosh. “I want you forwarding his vitals to your computer while you analyze what’s on that bullet. As soon as you have a result, let me know. I don’t want to have to be out there with that son of a bitch any longer than I have to be.”

“Why not just bring him in to question him?”

“Because if he disappears, I have a feeling something very bad will happen to Gwen, Rhys and Owen.”

“All right,” Tosh said, squeezing his hand before returning to the main part of the Hub.

Jack bent down to whisper in Ianto’s ear. “I have to go take care of something. I need you to hold on for me. I’ll get to the bottom of this,” he promised, then placed a long, hard kiss to Ianto’s mouth. With a last trace of fingers against Ianto’s jaw, he left Autopsy for the Hub.

“No matter what happens out there, you don’t let anyone in here and you don’t come out,” he said as he checked his Webley. Satisfied that it was fully loaded, he slid it back into its holster

Elle handed over a nasty-looking dagger.

“Do I want to know where you were hiding this?” he asked as he slid it into his pocket.

“Maternity clothes hide a magnitude of sins,” she said solemnly.

He looked between Tosh and Elle. “I’ll be back soon. Call Owen and tell him to grab a police escort back.”

They nodded.

“I’m going out through the Tourist Office; no sense letting them know about the lift if they don’t already.”

“Be careful, Jack,” Elle said.

“Oh, don’t worry. Contrary to popular belief, I do actually have some sense of self-preservation,” he said, then went out through the cog door.

“Will he be all right?” Tosh asked, dialing Owen’s mobile.

“I don’t know,” Elle replied. She, more than anyone, knew how irrational Jack could become if faced with losing Ianto again. She had to have faith he could keep it together. For all of them.  
****

Guppy was waiting for him, looking out over the water, his posture a picture of relaxed impatience. “You certainly took your time,” he said as Jack stopped beside him.

“Well, it wasn’t like you were going to take your ball and go home.”

He turned to face Jack. “Actually, that’s exactly what I’m planning on doing.”

Jack laughed.

“You don’t think I will.”

“Sorry. I was just picturing the look on Elle’s face when I tell her you referred to her as your ball.”

“Elle knows her place in all of this. After all, she is the one who dictated the terms.”

In the Hub, Tosh gasped and turned to look at Elle. 

Elle shook her head. “Let him play this out,” she said.

“What terms?” Jack asked, tensing. He was going to be epically upset if Gwen had been right in her suspicions. He tamped down his anger as he remembered his colleague’s bloodied and bruised form.

“It was quite a coup for us to get the former head of Secure Archives on our side. And all we had to do was agree to stay away from Ianto.”

“Somehow, I don’t picture Elle as being stupid enough to believe you’d keep up your end of the bargain. Didn’t you realize she was playing you for time?”

“I assure you, Captain, there was very little play going on. At least, until she decided to take this little adventure. Quite silly of her, really. She knew the rules.”

Jack’s smile was cold. “Yes, people who have been kidnapped, tortured and held against their will can be so irrational.”

Guppy glared at him. “You really don’t have the time to be flip with me, Captain. Rather, Ianto doesn’t have the time.”

Jack shoved his hands into his coat pockets so he wouldn’t wrap them around Guppy’s throat.

Guppy’s expression changed to a predatory smirk. “By now, Elle has probably told you that the bullets Ianto was shot with were Secure Archives ordinance.”

“She has.”

“And the lovely Dr. Toshiko Sato is probably running every test known to Torchwood on the bullets to find out what Ianto has been infected with.”

“She is,” Jack replied, grinding his teeth.

“I can tell you what’s killing him. I can even give you an antidote for it. But I’ll only do both on my terms.”

Jack tilted his head to the side. “See, I already know you’re not good at keeping your end of the bargain.”

“Is your mistrust really worth Ianto’s life? Worth the lives of Mr. Williams and Ms. Cooper?”

“How does he know about all of us?” Tosh asked Elle.

“Those men who followed me here have probably been keeping watch. They got pictures and ran their own investigation. Just like we would do,” Elle surmised.

“What do you want in return?” Jack asked Guppy.

“You know what I want, Jack. I want what’s mine.”

“Elle isn’t yours. _My baby_ isn’t yours.”

“After everything I have done to ensure the safety of her pregnancy and to make that child as special as she could possibly be, that baby is as much mine as anyone else’s.”

“I very much beg to differ on that,” Jack growled.

“The fact of the matter is that you can keep Elle down in that hole and _hope_ that your little ragtag team can get her and the baby safely through the pregnancy and delivery. You can _hope_ that you’re able to deal with any side effects of her genetics the baby has. You can _hope_ you never let your guard down for a moment, because we will take them back. And you can do all that hoping while Ianto Jones lies dead on a slab in your morgue.”

Jack’s face didn’t reveal the jolt of pain that shot through him.

“Or?” he asked.

“Or you can give me what I want, I’ll give you the antidote and you’ll never hear from me again.”

“And I’ll never see my daughter.”

“What use does a man like you have for flesh and blood of your own to watch die?” Guppy asked.

Jack had to admit, members of the Guppy family tree were especially skilled sadists.

“What’ll it be, Jack? Your lover or your child?”


	60. Decisions, Decisions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which an option is suggested, Ianto deteriorates and Elle is a cool customer.

**60—Decisions, Decisions**   
Elle gasped at the demand, her hands curling into fists over the swell of her stomach.

Tosh reached out and closed her hand over one of Elle’s. “Don’t worry. Jack won’t have to choose. He’ll figure a way out of this,” she said quietly, her voice full of conviction.

Elle nodded, but couldn’t resist casting a worried look at the monitor displaying Ianto’s vital signs.

“He’ll find a way,” Tosh said, squeezing Elle’s hand.  
****

His whole body hurt. The wound in his arm a devastating, icy flashpoint. It was where the pain radiated from, but it wasn’t where it was centered. No, it had spread through his body in cold tendrils to wrap around his heart in a black fist. Like ice on salty flesh—instant frostbite. He tried to shake his head, knowing he needed to move to keep himself awake. He knew this pain; knew this illness. He knew what was raging through his body. He had to get their attention; had to let them know what was happening.

He opened his eyes a crack, his groan at the too-bright light never gaining the strength to escape his throat. He tilted his head to the side, toward the stairs and the doorway.

It took all his strength to make his mouth move, to convince his lungs they needed to force out the air trapped inside.

“ _Jack_ ,” he whispered hoarsely.  
****

Jack took a deep breath, trying to remain calm. Throttling Reginald Guppy right now was the worst thing he could do. Check that, the _worst_ thing he could do would be to make the choice right here, right now.

_Guppy’s been talking about bullets—plural. He must not know Ianto was only hit once. I can use that; buy us some time_ , he thought.

“How long?” he asked aloud.

“What?”

“How long do I have to make the decision?”

Guppy looked at his watch. “Mr. Jones has about three hours to get the antitoxin into his system and still have it be effective. After that, I can’t guarantee his survival.”

“I’ll be in touch,” Jack replied, then turned to walk away.

“Where do you think you’re going, Captain?” Guppy said. Jack heard the faint click of a gun being cocked.

“I’m going to talk to my lover and the mother of my child,” he said, turning back to Guppy. “You’re not going to deny me the chance to let them make their arguments, are you?”

Guppy laughed. “I doubt Mr. Jones can do anything more than gasp at this point. It should make for a touching scene.”

Jack clenched his jaw. “I’ll be in touch with my decision.”

“When you’re listening to her arguments, do have Elle tell you about promises she made to me. It should make things easier,” Guppy replied. He turned back to face the water, effectively dismissing Jack.

Telling himself it was in his best interest not to chuck Guppy over the edge, Jack went back to the Hub, forcing himself not to run.  
****

“How is he?” Jack asked as soon as he stormed into the Hub. He noted the absence of anyone in the main part and hurried down into Autopsy, his heart in his throat.

“His fever’s spiked, but he’s shaking like he’s freezing,” Tosh said. She was standing next to the computer in Autopsy, reading Ianto’s vital signs even as she kept one eye on the monitor showing the progress on identifying whatever was infecting Ianto.

Elle was standing beside Ianto, holding his hand and wiping the sweat from his brow. Jack hurried down to stand on the other side of Ianto.

“We need to talk,” Elle said softly to him.

“It can wait. Tosh, how are we coming on that analysis?”

She shook her head as she spoke. “Mainframe’s managed to identify half the components, but that isn’t enough to construct a viable antidote. Using just what we have could kill him.”

“Not an option,” Jack replied.

They froze as they heard the lift activate. Elle turned to protect Ianto with her body even as Jack came around the gurney, Webley out and ready. Tosh pulled a gun from beneath Owen’s instrument tray.

“Jack?! Where the hell is everyone?” Owen called.

“Autopsy!” Jack shouted back.

Owen jumped the last few feet from the lift and ran down into his domain. “Where are we?” he asked, dropping his kit at the bottom of the stairs.

Tosh quickly rattled off Ianto’s vitals and condition as Owen looked at his patient. Elle reluctantly moved out of his way, nervously chewing on the side of her thumb.

“We’ll find a way,” Jack said softly from beside her.

“It’s not that,” she said, dropping her hand. “I’ve seen this. I should know what this is.”

“What do you mean you’ve seen this?” Owen asked before Jack got the chance.

“I remember these symptoms. It’s at the corner of my brain. If I could just remember who had them, I could remember…” she sighed. “Ianto would know.”

“Ianto’s not conscious right now, so we need you,” Jack said.

Her reply was interrupted as Ianto arched up off the gurney, all the muscles in his body locking up. A grunt of pain escaped his lips before his whole body went limp.

“Owen!” Jack roared.

“He’s alive. Heart rate is dipping back to normal,” Owen responded.

_Think, Elle, think!_ Elle thought, pacing near the bottom of the stairs. _Ianto needs you to concentrate. You’ve seen this. You know this_ , she thought as the others spoke about Ianto’s condition. _Ianto. It’s always about Ianto. You have to protect Iant—_

“Hodges!” she said out loud.

“What?” Jack asked.

“Hodges. Hodges was the one who was infected. It was about five years ago; Yvonne sent us out after a Torchwood operative named Hodges,” she said quickly. “She said he’d turned on us and we had to bring him back in. I took Ianto with me and we brought him in. He was already exhibiting symptoms by the time we got him into isolation. Turns out he hadn’t turned—they’d injected him on purpose to see how the toxin affected him.”

An alarm cut off her story. “His temperature’s dropping rapidly. Tosh, warming blankets, now!” Owen shouted.

Tosh pulled the blankets out of the appropriate drawer and hurried to help Owen tuck them around Ianto.

“No, wait!” Elle shouted.

They all froze.

“You can’t bring his temperature back up.”

“What?!” Owen, Jack and Tosh all said at the same time.

“If we don’t bring his temperature up, he’ll go into hypothermia,” Owen protested.

“If you bring it up, it gets the toxin through his system faster. If you keep him cool, you keep _it_ cool,” Elle replied.

“What is it?” Tosh asked.

“It’s a toxin Yvonne’s pet chemist cooked up at One. It’s made from the venom of a Jerenian.”

Jack swore colorfully under his breath.

“Pretty much,” Elle said, nodding.

“I’m not familiar with that species,” Tosh said, looking between them.

“Be very thankful for that,” Jack said. “When the hell did One get their hands on a Jerenian?”

“Five years ago. She handed it over to the biochem department once she realized interrogating it would be futile. Her boy Samuels developed the toxin. Once they had that, they killed it. Put the serum into the testing stages. Yvonne wanted a subject, so Samuels gave her Hodges,” Elle replied.

“Okay, we know what it is. Is there an antitoxin?” Owen said.

“There is. But even if I did know what it was, it would be too late. It takes six hours to prepare.”

“Guppy only gave me three hours to make my decision,” Jack said.

“He’d have had it prepared ahead of time, in case you chose to save Ianto,” Elle said.

“I’m choosing to save both of you,” Jack said, his eyes dark. “Tosh, keep your program running and start working on an antitoxin as soon as you can. Owen, work on stabilizing his temperature. If his symptoms start getting worse, cool him back down. Elle, a word,” he said, jerking his head toward his office.

She nodded and followed him.

Jack closed the door behind them and led her over to the sofa. Elle sat down and stared expectantly at him.

“Guppy said you made promises to him,” he began, arms over his chest.

“I did. I promised him that if he went after Ianto, I would kill him. I promised I would stay and play nice if they stayed away from Ianto.”

“‘Play nice’?”

She sighed. “I’m not proud of it, but I threatened to do myself harm.”

“But…that would have hurt the baby.”

“At that point, she wasn’t a baby to me. Not something real that I loved and needed to protect. My concern was—” she cut herself off and stood. She walked over to the window to look out into the Hub. “You have to understand, protecting Ianto has been the most important thing in my life for so long...When Four took me, my first concern was for him and what they would do to him.” She laughed softly, a low, harsh sound. “I made promises before I realized the seriousness of my situation.”

“Did you do anything to compromise us?”

She turned to face him. “No. With the exception of coming straight to you when I escaped. I had to be sure Ianto was safe; that Guppy had kept up his end of the bargain.”

Jack nodded. “So, how did they know about my immortality? About the fact I was the father?”

“I didn’t see any problem with telling them you were the father. I was protecting Ianto; I knew you could handle yourself against them.”

“And the immortality?”

“That’s not on me. They’ve been watching all of you. They figured that one out all on their own.”

“So what do we do now?”

“You want my opinion?”

Jack ran a hand through his hair. “Ianto would kill me if I let anything happen to the baby.”

“Letting Ianto die would kill you. If they take me, there’s a chance I could escape again. We could get Tosh to put a tracker in me they’d never find.”

“That’s too risky.”

“We’re running out of time and choices, Jack.”

“Give me some options, then!” he said, desperation beginning to tinge his voice.

“I’ve got one, but you’re not going to like it.”

“Try me.”

“Owen takes the baby out. With steroids for her lungs, her natural metabolism and Owen’s expertise, she should be able to survive. We shove a pillow under my shirt and turn me over to Guppy,” she suggested, her voice cool and professional.

Jack stared at her, speechless and horrified. “ _What!?_ ”

“Ianto and the baby are both safe. It’s the perfect solution.”

“First of all, we don’t even know if the baby would survive. Second, as soon as he realizes you’re no longer pregnant, Guppy will kill you.”

“Not if I get close enough to him to slip a knife in his heart first.”

“You wouldn’t be strong enough; not after surgery,” Jack said.

“Secure Archives painkillers. I’m sure Ianto has some stashed here,” she said, gaining strength now that it seemed Jack was really thinking about it.

Tosh knocked on the door, then walked in without waiting for an answer. “Ianto’s stabilized. And I’ve got an idea.”

Jack turned to face her, his face tight. “So do we.”


	61. The Choices We Make

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a deal is executed.

**61—The Choices We Make**  
Dr. Reginald Guppy grinned as he read the display on his cell phone. “Captain Harkness. I must confess, I expected you to run it down to the wire. I had heard you were one for daring rescues.”

Jack looked at his watch. “I think, under the circumstances, we can consider only leaving half an hour ‘down to the wire’.” 

“You’ve made your decision, then?”

“Yes,” Jack said through gritted teeth.

“May I ask which one you’re going to keep?”

“I’ll exchange Elle for the antitoxin,” Jack replied.

Guppy laughed. “I knew it. I knew you’d save your lover. That’s always been your problem, Jack. You’re so selfish. You put your own wants ahead of what’s good for the world.”

“Funny, I would think you’d agree that having a weapon like my daughter to defend the world is for the greater good,” Jack said.

“Oh, she’s much more than a weapon, Jack. She’s the future. I have to admit, I didn’t expect you to understand that. Or be this reasonable.”

“Like you said; I’m a selfish man,” Jack replied.

“Shall I meet you in your tourist office, then?”

“The end of the quay will do. I’ll meet you there in 20 minutes. You come alone. I’ll bring Elle.”

“Sorry, Jack. I’ll be bringing my two men. We’ll be making a quick exit once we have what we want; don’t want to give you the chance to double-cross us,” Guppy replied.

“Then I’m bringing Tosh to make sure it’s really the antitoxin.”

“Fine. I’ll see you in 20 minutes, Jack.”  
****

Jack was waiting for Guppy at the end of the quay, standing to the side. He didn’t want the water at his back with no means of escape. Tosh was beside him, her scanner at the ready. Elle was sitting on the ground beside Tosh, leaning back on the railing.

Guppy approached with the two men they had seen on camera previously; Gregory and the man Elle hadn’t been able to identify. Jack swallowed the desire to ask which one had shot Ianto and return the favor. This wasn’t about revenge. Revenge would have to come later.

“Punctual, Jack. I expected nothing less,” Guppy said, stopping across from Jack. He narrowed his eyes at Elle. “What is wrong with her?”

“Hmm? Oh, she didn’t take my decision all that well. Don’t worry, Dr. Harper assured me the sedative won’t harm the fetus,” Jack said.

“You’ll forgive me for wanting to check for myself.”

Jack held up a hand. “First hand over the antitoxin for Tosh to run a scan on. Then you can have Elle. Take all the time you want examining her.”

Guppy snapped his fingers and No Name stepped forward, holding out a slim box to Tosh. She took it and opened it, aiming her scanner at its contents. She looked up at Jack and nodded.

“Go,” he said.

Tosh began walking backwards away from them, moving as fast as she dared. 

“Stop!” Guppy shouted.

Tosh froze.

“Before she goes any further, I’d like to examine what I’m getting,” Guppy said, moving toward Elle.

Jack helped her to her feet. “I’m really sorry about this.”

She gave him a half-hearted smile. “Me, too.” She turned to face Guppy. “Hello, Reginald.”

Guppy grabbed her arm and pulled her closer. “What?” he gasped as her stomach bumped into him and squished. He reached up under her shirt and pulled out a pillow.

“Oh dear,” Elle said.

Guppy shoved her back toward Jack. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

“I told you I’d trade Elle for the antitoxin. I never said anything about the baby,” Jack replied.

“You think you’re so clever,” Guppy said, then shot Elle twice in the chest. She crashed back into Jack, who was pulling out his own gun.

“Run, Tosh!” Jack shouted.

Tosh took off running, ducking behind the nearest cover.

Jack shot No Name dead before Guppy shot Jack between the eyes. Guppy and Gregory turned to chase Tosh. Guppy gasped as he was shot in the shoulder and Gregory went down with a bullet through his heart. He reached in his pocket and pulled out a small device. He activated it, opening a wormhole.

“This isn’t over,” he snarled at Jack’s and Elle’s corpses before he disappeared through the opening.

Once she saw the wormhole close, Tosh hurried back over to Jack and Elle. She shook her head, staring down at them.

“Elle is going to be so pissed when she sees what you let them do to her Bot,” she muttered.   
****

“I thought you were a better shot than that,” Jack said to Elle. 

They were sitting on opposite sides of the gurney Ianto was lying on. He was responding well to the antitoxin, but had not yet regained consciousness. Elle had assured Jack that the fact Ianto was responding at all meant he would recover, but Jack was still nervous. He was worried that the few seconds’ delay Tosh had spent waiting for him to resurrect so he could bring in the Bot and corpses had cost them Ianto’s life.

Elle snorted. “ _You_ try lying on the roof of the Tourist Office with a rifle with a rather active baby in your stomach and see how perfect your aim is.”

Jack smiled. “Point taken.”

Ianto stirred. “Ja—” He coughed. “Jack?”

“Right here,” Jack said, leaning forward to Ianto could see him.

“Jerenian,” he whispered.

“We know. Elle remembered. We got the antitoxin from Guppy. You’ll be fine,” Jack said.

“How?”

“We sacrificed the Bot,” Elle explained. “Well, we put it out of commission temporarily. Tosh is itching to play with it and make it all better.”

“What happened to ‘I’ll shout for you as soon as he’s awake, Owen’?” Owen asked as he came down the stairs.

Elle rolled her eyes. “We were having a moment. Well, they were about to. You robbed me of some serious ‘I’m so glad you’re alive’ making out.”

Owen huffed and came over to examine his patient. Elle moved out of his way, knowing there was no way in hell Jack was moving. 

After a few moments and a blood draw, Owen stepped back. “I think your main problem now is dehydration. I want to keep the saline line in overnight. Which, unfortunately, means you have to stay here.”

“Can’t we move him down into my room?” Jack asked.

“Jack, I hardly—”

“He’ll be more comfortable there, that’s all,” Jack said, cutting him off.

“All right.”

“Good.”

“The hospital just called,” Tosh said, joining them.

“And?” Jack asked.

“Rhys is out of the woods. They’re going to keep him in ICU until morning, but his prognosis is good. Gwen regained consciousness about half an hour ago,” she said, smiling at Ianto when she saw he was awake.

“I should go check on her,” Jack said.

“Kathy Swanson will probably be lying in wait. She was wearing a tread in the hallway when I left,” Owen said, setting Ianto up with a new bag of fluid.

“I’ll take that chance. Help me get Ianto into my room and I’ll give the two of you a ride home before going to the hospital,” Jack replied.

Jack carried Ianto, the IV bag in Ianto’s good hand, with Owen leading the way and Tosh and Elle bringing up the rear.

“Now, you behave for Elle while I’m gone. If she tells me you were very good when I get back, I might let you have coffee in the morning,” Jack said as he tucked Ianto in.

“You really are insufferable sometimes,” Ianto muttered.

Jack laughed softly and kissed him on the forehead. He turned and gave Elle a kiss on the cheek before following Tosh and Owen out.

“You can drop us both at Tosh’s,” Owen said as Tosh collected her purse and coat.

“Good. I don’t want to take any chances until we’re sure Guppy’s down for the count,” Jack replied.

“Are we ready?” Tosh asked.

“Always for you, sweetheart,” Owen said.

Jack rolled his eyes, but grinned at the backs of his two coworkers as they left the Hub.  
****

Gwen’s head was pounding. She opened her eyes to a dark room. Where was the nightlight Rhys insisted on having on? Oh god—

“Rhys!” she said, sitting up.

“Shh. Take it easy. Rhys is going to be fine.”

Gwen turned her head to see Jack sitting beside her bed. She smiled, even as something caught at her about the way he was sitting back. She would have expected him to at least be holding her hand.

“Jack?”

“How are you feeling?”

“Sore. Achy. Am I all right?” she asked, leaning back against the pillows.

“Severe concussion and lots of bruising. Nothing that won’t heal with time,” he replied.

“Good,” she breathed. She shifted in the bed to get a better look at him. “Jack, what’s wrong?”

Jack leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees as he stared into her eyes.

“Exactly how long have you been working for Reginald Guppy?”


	62. The Secrets We Keep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a betrayal is revealed and there is rest for the weary.

**62—The Secrets We Keep**   
“What? No, Jack. I’m not working for him,” Gwen protested.

“All right. Were you feeding him information before Elle came through the wormhole?” he asked.

Gwen just looked at him, speechless.

Jack smiled sadly. “I was really hoping you’d start yelling at me. Telling me what a cruel, heartless bastard I was to believe that you could do something like that to me.”

Gwen looked away from him.

“I wanted to believe it was just jealousy making you act the way you had. I hoped that it was something that foolish and simple. After you saw the three of us together, I honestly thought we were moving forward.” He snorted. “Of course, something was tickling the back of my brain, telling me I was missing something. It was their information. It was just too good to have come from a tracking device or a bug. It had to have come from a living, breathing traitor.”

“It wasn’t…” Gwen trailed off.

“ _What_ , Gwen?” Jack asked, his voice deadly.

“It wasn’t like that,” she whispered.

“Then what was it like?”

“I was trying to protect you. Protect us!”

“How did it happen?” Jack asked, his voice taking on an edge that made Gwen uncomfortable. The last time she had heard it, he had been questioning Suzie.

Gwen took a deep breath. “He came to me and said he was concerned for the safety of Torchwood. He said we were being infiltrated by Torchwood One. He showed me his Torchwood Four identification.”

“And you just believed him?”

“How was I supposed to know!” she shouted.

“You could have fucking _asked_ me!”

“The only thing you’ve ever told me about Torchwood Four is that they were missing. For all I knew, they were like us—small and unorthodox, but working for the greater good.”

“You had no way to know that for sure. You should have _talked_ to me.”

“You wouldn’t have listened! You were so drawn to her.”

“I have a connection to her, so she must be evil?” Jack asked, incredulous.

Gwen narrowed her eyes. “I’ve seen what became of the people of Torchwood One. Even someone like Ianto was corrupted by them.”

Jack’s jaw clenched. “He didn’t mean for anyone to get hurt.”

“Tell that to Annie and Dr. Tanizaki,” Gwen said.

“I thought you’d forgiven him for that,” Jack said softly.

“I did. But that’s my point—even someone as kind and good as Ianto is…tainted by Torchwood One. You’ve always preached how wrong and evil Torchwood One and Yvonne Hartman were. The logical conclusion was that the head of her dirty tricks department couldn’t be trusted,” she said, beginning to cry.

“No, Gwen. The logical conclusion was to come talk to me rationally. To tell me who had approached you. Do you realize the danger you put everyone in?” he asked, his voice full of anger.

“He didn’t seem like a danger. He just wanted me to keep my eyes open and let him know if Elle was going to be a threat to us.”

“She’s not the threat, Gwen! Torchwood Four is the threat!”

“Because _she_ said so!”

“Because she said so and because I looked into her claims. I knew a little bit about Torchwood Four; her story was believable.”

“And if you had bothered to tell me any of that, none of this would have happened!”

“Argh! How many times do I have to tell you it’s not always about you!”

“Oh, you’ve made that perfectly clear, Jack. And after the baby had its first growth spurt, I told Guppy I was done.”

“That was over a week ago,” Jack said, confused.

Gwen sniffed back tears. “Yes. I told him I was done and he kidnapped Rhys. Told me they would hurt him if I didn’t keep feeding them information. I’m sorry Jack. I love him. I had to protect him.”

Jack laughed sharply. “Now you understand how I feel. And still you didn’t come to me.”

“What is Rhys to you? You tell me not to let him drift, but he’s nothing to you. I had no way of knowing you wouldn’t sacrifice him for Elle.”

“He’s something to you. Something special. Someone you would do anything to protect. I would have helped you. _We_ would have helped you.”

“I was afraid you’d get angry. I shouldn’t have worried,” she said, giving him a small smile.

“Don’t mistake me, Gwen. Just because you’re still breathing doesn’t mean I’m not picturing my hands around your throat.”

“Jack, I—” she cut herself off and stared down at her hands.

Jack closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Please, tell me you never intended for anyone to get hurt,” he said, and it was the nearest to begging Gwen had ever heard come from his lips.

“Never. Even when I didn’t trust Elle, when I believed Guppy. Even then, I didn’t want anything bad to happen to her. I just wanted her to go away.”

“After everything she said and everything you saw, didn’t it ever occur to you the danger you were in? The danger to all of us?”

“My lover was blown up earlier today. Of course I understand the danger!” she said fiercely.

“And my lover was shot and poisoned today. Guppy made me choose between him and my unborn child!”

Gwen gasped. “Are they okay?”

Jack smiled sadly. As glad as he was that she had asked after both Ianto and the baby, all could not be forgiven just because Gwen was having a fit of regret. He leaned back in his chair.

“Tell me what happened today.”

“Guppy called this morning. He said that he had reconsidered what I said. He couldn’t ask me to put myself in danger going against you. He said he would let Rhys go. I was going to bring him down into the Hub and tell you everything.”

“It didn’t strike you as odd that he was just suddenly so reasonable?”

“I thought he realized he wouldn’t get more out of me. I thought he was showing that he was a good guy. Ruthless, but good. Like you.”

“No, Gwen. They just wanted to get rid of you before you spilled the beans. They cared less about Rhys than you think I do.”

Gwen started to cry quietly. Jack waited her out, then handed her a tissue.

“Thank you.”

“You can’t come back to the Hub.”

“What?”

“You and Rhys are safe here under the protection of the police. When you’re both fit to leave the hospital, I’ll arrange for you to stay in a UNIT safehouse until I’m sure Guppy is out of the picture.”

“But Jack, I can help. Torchwood is—”

“Torchwood is none of your concern anymore. I can’t Retcon you right now because it’s remotely possible you still have information I can use. Once I can look at you without wanting to smother you with a pillow, I’ll make my decision about your future.”

“Jack, I am so sorry. You have to believe I never meant for any harm to come to Ianto, your child or Elle.”

“I don’t have to believe it, Gwen. And it pisses me off that I want to believe it. You were stupid and reckless, Gwen.”

“Was Ianto any different when he hid Lisa?”

“Ianto has done his penance for that, Gwen. And at least he realized he’d done something wrong and was sorry.”

“I _am_ sorry!”

“We’ll see,” Jack said, then left her.  
****

“Come here,” Ianto said sleepily.

Elle shook her head. “If I pull out that IV or cause you any kind of pain, Jack will have my head.”

“He’s already had that.”

Elle laughed. “Pain meds give you a potty mouth. Did you know that?”

“The lack of a filter is the least of my worries right now,” he muttered.

“What’s your greatest worry? That one of us will have to make the coffee tomorrow?”

He rolled his head on the pillow to look at her. “You, Elle. You are my greatest concern.”

Elle’s eyes widened. She recovered quickly, smiling. “You’re just saying that because I’m carrying your child.”

“I’m saying that because I love you and you have this annoying tendency to put yourself in harm’s way to save me.”

“Oh, come on, Ianto,” she said, moving to sit on the edge of the bed. “I haven’t done that in a very long time.”

Ianto reached over with his good hand to take her hand in his. “Tell me what happened while I was out.”

She shook her head. “Nothing really. Guppy made a play, overplayed his hand, and Jack and Tosh spanked him soundly.”

“And you had nothing to do with said spanking?”

“I _may_ have put a hole in his shoulder.”

“Jack let you confront him?” Ianto said, trying to sit up, his expression one of sheer panic.

Elle put her hands on his shoulders and gently pushed him back down. “No. He let me play with a rifle from the roof of the Tourist Office while he, Tosh and the Bot went to the meeting.”

“You guys fooled Guppy with the Bot?”

“Tosh’s idea. She has an intriguingly warped brain.”

“Explains why the two of you get along so well.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “When you’re better, I’m clocking you one for that.”

He chuckled, then coughed.

“Yeah, see, making fun of me is not good for your health.”

“So, Tosh’s plan?”

“We got the antitoxin, Tosh legged it and I shot Guppy and his goons. End of story.”

“And what was your plan?” he asked, eyebrow raised.

“What makes you think I had a plan?”

“I know you, Elle. You had a plan. And it probably involved a cold and calculated decision that would horrify me if I weren’t completely blissed out on painkillers.”

She smiled. “It might have been a little horrific.”

Ianto closed his eyes. “You’ll never learn.”

“Not all of us have a steep learning curve,” she said, threading her fingers through his hair. “Get some sleep, Ianto. Jack will be home soon.”

He nuzzled into the pillow, humming at her touch. “Stay close,” he murmured.

“Of course.”  
****

In transit from the hospital to the Hub, Jack had come down from the realm of epically fucking pissed off and was hovering at furious. He hadn’t, however, called off the guard on Gwen’s room. Even her reckless stupidity didn’t warrant death at the hands of Reginald Guppy or one of his goons. Which didn’t mean he hadn’t entertained the thought of letting Elle loose on her. Entertained, but eventually discarded. 

He ran his hands over his face as he walked toward his room. What he wanted most in this world right now was to curl up in bed with his lover. Thanks to Guppy (and to an extent, Gwen), he couldn’t even do that. Sure, he could lay in bed with Ianto, but he had to be very careful of the other man’s injuries and exhaustion. He couldn’t ask Ianto to attend to his needs right now; he needed to be strong and comforting for his lover. He needed to keep himself under control; if Ianto sensed how desperate his emotions were, the younger man would sacrifice his own healing to take care of Jack’s.

His heart nearly broke at the sight of Elle sitting on the floor near the head of the bed. Her head was resting next to Ianto’s shoulder, one hand over the bandage on his arm and the other on his chest, making sure it kept rising and falling as he slept. 

He shrugged out of his coat and hung it up. He stood watching Ianto for a moment, making sure for himself that the younger man was breathing normally. He moved to touch Ianto’s forehead, but stepped back when Elle growled at him.

“Shh, it’s just me,” Jack whispered, running a hand over her hair.

She lifted her head and blinked sleepily at him. “You should be able to remove the IV line soon,” she said, swallowing a yawn.

Jack dropped down to lift Elle into his arms. “Come on, Mommy. You’ve had a harsh day. Let’s get you tucked in to bed.”

Elle rested her head on his shoulder and chuckled. “You do realize that fucking him into the mattress is against doctor’s orders?”

“Watch your mouth; little ears are listening,” he replied, carrying her to her room.

“Does she even have ears now?” she asked, nuzzling into his neck.

“Don’t know. We’ll have to ask Owen.”

“Okay.”

Jack smiled and gently placed her in the bed. “Try not to kick your covers off, okay?”

“Mm-hm,” Elle said, rolling onto her side and rubbing her cheek on the pillow.

Jack kissed her forehead and started to leave.

“Jack?”

“Yes?” he asked, turning back to her.

“Don’t tell Ianto my plan, okay?”

He nodded. “I’ll leave that to you.”

“Good,” she sighed.

Jack left the door open a crack and headed back to his room. To Ianto.


	63. Comfort Found in the Dark of Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Ianto gives Jack comfort by taking comfort himself.

**63—Comfort Found in the Dark of Night**  
When people met Ianto Jones, they believed the façade he presented. The quiet, unassuming man in the well-cut suit; the efficient PA; the brilliant but shy archivist, ever ready with an important fact and a wry observation. Jack had never been completely taken in by it; sure, most of what Ianto really was had slipped under his radar, but Jack never thoroughly bought in to the façade. He had especially started seeing Ianto for who he truly was after the incident with the Cyberwoman—a thought that made him cringe anew in light of the current situation. Jack had known since then that Ianto was a deeply passionate man and a steadfastly loyal one. 

During that Year, Jack had learned that Ianto was made for leadership; all those talents of his coalescing into the resistance fighter—resistance general—humanity so desperately needed. When he had returned after everything had been set right—hoping beyond hope that Ianto and the others would let him back in—he had learned that Ianto’s strength went deeper than even he had guessed. Ianto had not just saved him; he had restored him and made him whole. Had given him faith that everything done to him could be mended. And Jack had learned so much more about Ianto in the process; learned of the skills, training and sheer devastating depth Ianto had. He realized he still didn’t know everything that made Ianto the strong, reliant and resilient man he was today.

But right now, in this moment, as he watched Ianto’s chest rise and fall in a steady rhythm as he slept, Jack didn’t see _that_ man. That man whose stunning strength and beauty had woken something in his chest—in his fucking _soul_ —that had been dormant for too long.

What he saw was just a man. A man laid low because he was foolish enough to bind his life to Captain Jack Harkness. A man whose life always hung by the slimmest of threads. 

Jack saw how easy it was for Ianto to die.

He was startled into movement as Ianto coughed softly as he awoke.

“Jack?” he asked, his eyes only half-open.

He hurried over to the bed and sat on the edge. “I’m here.”

“Where’d Elle go?” he asked, his voice still slurring with sleep.

“She’s sleeping. Pulling an all-nighter is not as easy as it used to be for her.”

Ianto laughed softly, more air than sound.

“Can I get you anything?” Jack asked, running the tips of his fingers over Ianto’s cheekbone.

“Mmm,” Ianto sighed, nuzzling into Jack’s hand. “You can get this needle out of my arm.”

Jack eyed the near-empty IV bag. “Owen says you need fluids.”

“Glass of water would be nice.”

Jack pinched the back of Ianto’s hand.

“Ow!”

Jack ignored Ianto’s muttered protest and watched Ianto’s skin. Satisfied that Ianto’s condition had improved, he turned Ianto’s arm to remove the IV needle. He took a tissue from the box on the bedside table and pressed it against the wound, gently bending Ianto’s elbow to hold it in place.

“We’re going to have to invest in plasters with cute cartoon characters,” Ianto said.

“I saw some with pirate flags on them a few weeks ago. I think that would be fitting for our child.”

Ianto rolled his eyes. “Just can’t get past the fact there’s another Captain Jack, can you?”

Jack laughed softly. “I’m going to take this up to Autopsy and dispose of it,” he said, gesturing with the IV bag. “I’ll be back with some cool water for you.”

Ianto nodded, his eyes closing halfway through the movement. Jack paused to brush his fingers through curls flattened by sweat from Ianto’s earlier fever.

Jack returned a few minutes later, a bottle of water shoved in each pocket of his pants, a large bowl of warm water in his hands and a soft flannel over his shoulder. Ianto woke at the sound of the bowl being placed on the bedside table.

“What’s that for?” he asked as Jack fished the bottles out of his pockets and set them beside the bowl.

“Time for your sponge bath, Mr. Jones,” Jack said brightly, although the grin didn’t reach his eyes.

“That’s not a sponge,” he said, nodding at Jack’s shoulder.

Jack scoffed. “Of course not. I can’t feel you through a sponge,” he said, genuine warmth in his tone.

Ianto raised an eyebrow. “Is this doctor-approved therapy?”

Jack laughed and pulled the covers down to the foot of the bed. “You don’t want to be clean?”

“You’ll just get me all sweaty again.”

Jack shook his head. “I’m only willing to push your recovery so far.”

“Coward.”

“Yep,” Jack replied, dipping the flannel into the warm water.

Ianto shifted on the bed, getting more comfortable and spreading his legs slightly.

“Ianto…” Jack warned.

“Just trying to make sure you can reach everything.”

“You are an evil, evil man,” Jack said, lifting Ianto’s wounded arm. He cupped the elbow in his hand, freeing the muscles from any strain. He wrapped the flannel around the tip of his finger to trace around the bandage covering the bullet wound. He pressed a soft kiss to the center of the bandage before gently cleaning the rest of Ianto’s arm. 

He dipped the cloth in the water and wrung it out. He drew in across Ianto’s shoulder, dipping down to tease his collarbone before sliding it up Ianto’s neck. Ianto turned his head to the side, allowing Jack better access to his neck. Jack traced the curve of Ianto’s ear, then drew the flannel down Ianto’s jaw. Ianto turned his head back to look at Jack. Jack stared into his eyes as he slid the cloth under Ianto’s chin. Ianto licked his lips and grinned when Jack’s pupils dilated. Jack smiled, then rubbed the cloth over Ianto’s face as though he were cleaning up a messy child.

Ianto laughed, a pure, gentle sound in the dark night.

Jack smiled and re-wet the cloth. He let some of the water drip across Ianto’s chest as he maneuvered himself onto the bed, straddling Ianto’s hips on his knees. Ianto lifted his good arm up for Jack. Jack took the tissue from Ianto’s elbow before cleaning the arm, taking special care between each of Ianto’s fingers. Ianto squirmed beneath him.

“All right?” Jack asked.

“Almost as good as your tongue.”

Jack gave Ianto a half-smile as he reached back to dip the flannel into the warm water. Ianto took the opportunity to really _look_ at Jack. He noticed the tension in his arms and the slight tremor in his hands. He saw the barely-tempered fear in the lines around his lover’s mouth. Jack didn’t need the reassurance of their usual banter or lovemaking; tonight, Jack needed a subtler connection.

Ianto waited until Jack brought the flannel back to him to move. He reached up and took Jack’s wrist in his hand, moving Jack’s hand until the cloth was pressed over his heart. He nodded once at Jack, then released him, settling back to let Jack cleanse his body. 

Jack released a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. He leaned forward to kiss Ianto softly, tracing his tongue over the younger man’s lower lip before Ianto parted his lips to allow him entrance. The kiss was languid and sweet; everything Jack needed in the gentle press of lips and tongue. He broke the kiss and sat up, his mind on his task. 

Ianto closed his eyes and let himself drift in the warm love emanating from Jack in waves and the soft strokes of the flannel over his skin. Jack cleaned Ianto’s torso down to his waist, dipping a finger into his belly button just to hear Ianto laugh. Ianto obliged him, huffing out a giggle. Jack smiled down at him and lifted himself off the bed.

Ianto was unable to hold back the whimper as Jack left him. 

“Easy,” Jack whispered. He shifted the bowl of water to the floor and knelt by the side of the bed to clean Ianto’s leg from toes to the edge of his boxer briefs. He sat on the end of the bed between Ianto’s feet to repeat the process on the other leg, lifting to make sure he got the sensitive backs of Ianto’s knees and backs of his thighs.

“Can you sit up?” he asked gently once he was done with Ianto’s legs.

“If you help me,” Ianto replied. 

Jack dampened the cloth again, then repositioned himself to straddle Ianto’s thighs. He leaned down, letting Ianto wrap his arms around his shoulders as Jack put his arm around Ianto’s waist to help him sit up. He rested back on his calves and held Ianto against his chest as he stroked the flannel over Ianto’s back. Ianto shuddered slightly as the cloth slid down the line of his spine. He buried his face against Jack’s chest and breathed in his lover’s scent.

When he finished, Jack dropped the flannel into the bowl and reached for one of the bottles of water. He sat back, still propping Ianto up as the younger man drank half the bottle. He handed it back to Jack, who finished it off and set the bottle aside before easing Ianto back down against the mattress. He trailed his fingers along the waistband of Ianto’s shorts, looking up at him for permission. Ianto nodded and shifted his hips to help Jack remove them. Jack knelt by the side of the bed again, taking care to clean Ianto gently. Once he was finished, he pulled the sheet and blanket back up over Ianto, tucking him in.

“Don’t go,” Ianto said softly.

“I should really…”

“Please. I need you to say,” he said, knowing it was a low blow to use those words, but unapologetic for it because he knew Jack needed it more than he did.

Jack nodded and stripped down to his shorts. He put the bowl and flannel back on the bedside table before lifting the sheet to climb into bed. Ianto pulled him down to settle Jack between his legs, allowing Jack to rest with his head over Ianto’s heart. Jack lifted his left hand to stroke his fingers through the soft hair on Ianto’s chest as he allowed himself to be lulled by the rhythm of Ianto’s heartbeat. He fell asleep with Ianto’s good hand wrapped around his wrist, pressed against his pulse and the fingers of his other hand threaded through his hair.


	64. Whispers in the Dark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we find out how the rest of Team Torchwood Spent their evening.

**64—Whispers in the Dark**  
Elle sat up gasping and then doubled over in pain. “Oh, not tonight, Pip. Please. Your daddies need an evening that’s angst-free. They’ve been through too much in the last 24 hours. They need to recon—argh!” She took a deep breath, then panted it out. “Come on. You let us have tonight, and tomorrow I’ll make Uncle Owen bring us countless banana milkshakes. Auntie Tosh will tell you all about Mainframe and make you a special headset for listening to music. Aunt Gwen will come home from the hospital and bring us tea and cookies. Tad will rub Mommy’s feet—which, admittedly isn’t really for you, but it will make Mommy happy, which will relax Mommy and make you rest easier. And Daddy? We’ll let Daddy slay all the monsters for us, okay?”

Elle waited a few heartbeats. The pain didn’t return and the baby seemed to settle down.

“Thank you, baby,” she breathed, stroking her stomach. She settled back against the pillows and hoped Jack and Ianto were having a more restful night than she was.  
****

This was horrible. This was so wrong. How had it come to this? Where did she go wrong? All she had wanted to do was protect her friends. Her _team_. They were hers to take care of—that’s why Jack had hired her, to keep him, all of them, human. She had only been doing her job.

“You’re a stupid twit, Gwen,” she whispered to herself. She indulged in some harsh, wet sobbing for a few moments, then reached for the tissues beside her bed. She blew her nose and wiped her face as best she could. She looked down at the IV in her hand and carefully removed the tape, grimacing as she pulled the line out. She carefully swung her legs over the edge of the bed. She held tightly to the mattress until she was sure her legs wouldn’t give out on her. She hobbled to the door and opened it, looking into the hallway. The nurses seemed to be engrossed in charts and gossip. She stopped dead at the uniformed guard next to her door.

“Is something wrong?” the young security guard asked her.

Gwen drew herself up to her full height and put on her best dealing with the locals face. “I need to see the man I was admitted with. Rhys Williams?”

The guard nodded down the hall at another guard. “He’s down there.”

She smiled at him. “Be a love and offer a lady your arm?” she asked.

The guard nodded, taken off-step by her smile. He led her down the hall and nodded at his counterpart as Gwen went into Rhys’ room.

A wounded moan escaped her lips as she saw Rhys. He was covered in bandages and a machine kept a steady rhythm monitoring his heartbeat. She walked over to the chair beside his bed and sat down, reaching for his hand. It was dry and cool, a stark contrast to the comforting warmth his hand usually was when pressed against hers. She found she actually missed the slight clamminess of his palm.

“I am so, so sorry, Rhys,” she whispered, resting her head next to his shoulder. “I didn’t mean for you to get hurt.” She sniffed back tears. “That’s not true. I never thought about you until they threatened you. I was so damned focused on Elle and being the one to save the day. I wanted to protect them so badly that I didn’t give a thought to you—the one person who’s supposed to mean everything to me.”

She sat up, then leaned forward to press a soft kiss to Rhys’ cheek. “I will make this up to you, Rhys. Even if they won’t let me remember what I did, I’ll remember that I owe you more of myself than I’ve been giving. You are the best man I know, Rhys. I won’t let them make me forget that.”

She settled back into the chair, her head against her lover’s shoulder, and closed her eyes. She let Rhys’ measured breathing soothe her into her own sleep, trying desperately not to worry about what Jack—what Torchwood—would do with her.

_I can fix this_ , she thought just before sleep claimed her.  
****

“What are the odds that tomorrow we can have a nice, normal crazy alien spit out by the Rift?” Owen asked Tosh as she locked her front door behind them.

“Thought you had given up gambling,” Tosh said, shrugging out of her coat.

Owen hurried over to help her out of the coat. He hung it up on the coat rack—an honest-to-god, antique coat rack—then added his own to the limbs of the rack. Tosh smiled softly at him and walked to the kitchen. 

“Do you want to order take away or do you want to try icebox kamikaze?” she asked, peering into her icebox. She yelped as she turned to find Owen standing right behind her.

“You scared the shit out of me today,” he said quietly.

“I wasn’t in any real dang—”

He cut her off with a finger over her lips. “There was no way of knowing for sure that Jack and Elle would be his first targets. He could have just as easily shot you to put Jack in his place.”

She smiled softly behind his finger. She reached up and carefully took his wrist, gently pulling his hand away from her mouth. “It was my plan, Owen. I had already taken that into consideration and dismissed it as a negligible risk.”

“Yeah, that doesn’t actually make me feel any better about it, Tosh.”

“It should. I’m brilliant,” she replied, smiling.

“Yes. Brilliant, but twisted.”

She laughed, then sobered when he realized his smile hadn’t quite reached his eyes yet. “I trust Jack and Elle, Owen. I knew I was in perfectly safe hands.”

“I know. But I worry, Tosh.”

She leaned forward and kissed him softly. “I appreciate that,” she whispered.

Owen coughed and actually shuffled his feet, which made Tosh smile brilliantly. She took her phone out and handed it to him.

“Here, you can order the takeaway,” she said. “I’m going to go put on some pyjamas.”

“Tosh, I—” he stopped himself by taking her arm and pulling her close, placing a gentle kiss on her lips. “Just…try not to scare me like that again, yeah?”

She nodded, blushing. “Next time, you can be the possible target.”

Owen snorted and scrolled through her phone to call the Chinese place down the street.


	65. Good for the Soul

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jack confesses to the team that Gwen is the mole and Elle confesses something disturbing to Ianto.

**65—Good for the Soul**  
Jack fought off waking for as long as he could. He usually didn’t sleep much, but he had gotten into the habit of at least partially matching his sleeping patterns to Ianto’s. This morning, however, staying pressed against his lover’s sleep-warmed body was not the main reason he wanted to stay in bed.

Beside him, Ianto whimpered as he tried to roll over and put his weight on his wounded arm.

“Sshh,” Jack whispered, gently rolling Ianto toward him, onto his back. He curled up beside Ianto, his head on his lover’s shoulder.

“Hmm,” Ianto replied, rubbing his cheek against the top of Jack’s head. “You can stop worrying. I won’t insist on going out on a Weevil hunt today,” he said, his voice thick with sleep and pain.

Jack propped himself up on his elbows. “You’ll be lucky if I let you get out of this bed today.”

“Sounds promising. Can I play?”

Jack swore under his breath and turned his head toward the door. Elle was leaning against the door frame.

“We’re going to have to have a talk about knocking,” Jack said.

Elle rolled her eyes. “I’ve been sandwiched between your naked bodies. I think walking in on pillow talk is nothing at this point.”

Ianto chuckled.

Jack turned to mock-glare at him. “She’s _your_ wife,” he said.

“So you keep reminding me,” Ianto replied.

“Much as I would love to watch you guys work this out, I’m starving,” Elle said, wandering into the room and settling into the large chair in the corner. It was the chair Jack usually sat in when he couldn’t sleep—he alternately read or watched Ianto sleep from it. Several times since her arrival here, Jack had found Elle curled up in it, reading, sleeping or just daydreaming. However, she rarely occupied it when he and Ianto were in the room.

“You feeling okay?” Jack asked, shifting to sit up in the bed so he could see her better.

“I’m just hungry.”

“Liar,” Ianto said, gingerly getting into a sitting position. Elle pretended not to notice Ianto making sure his lap was covered by the sheet.

“Pip was a little active last night. She kept me up,” Elle shrugged. She smiled broadly at them. “Nothing a banana milkshake wouldn’t fix.”

“What is it with you and banana milkshakes?” Jack asked.

Elle gasped and put her hands on either side of her stomach. “Don’t listen, Pip. Daddy’s picking on your taste buds!”

Ianto laughed as Jack tried to glare.

“He’s wounded and I have a feeling I’m still confined to quarters. That means breakfast is on you,” Elle said to Jack.

Jack sighed. “I remember the heady days when I protected the citizens of the world from alien threats.”

Ianto leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “Now you’re saving Cardiff from the wrath of a hungry, cranky mother-to-be.”

“I’d rather face a Hoix.”

“Ouch,” Elle said. 

Jack laughed and got out of bed, going over to give her a kiss on the forehead.

“Do you even _own_ pyjamas?” she asked him.

“Never saw the point,” Jack said before sauntering into his bathroom.

Elle looked at Ianto.

Ianto shrugged at her. “He’ll learn.”

“Would you care to wager on that?”

Ianto shifted in the bed, thinking.

Elle grinned. “You _really_ want me to leave so you can put on some pants, don’t you?”

“Please.”

Elle laughed and hauled herself out of the chair. “I’ll expect one of you upstairs soon to get me breakfast,” she said before leaving the room.

Ianto sighed and waited until her footsteps had diminished significantly before getting out of the bed to search for his pants.  
****

“I thought grocery shopping was Ianto’s job,” Owen whined as Tosh selected fruit.

“This is not grocery shopping, this is breakfast,” she replied, choosing a bunch of bananas.

“For what army?”

“We never know what’s going to set off Elle’s stomach, so I want to get a variety.”

Owen held up a pack of chocolate chip cookies. “For Elle, hmm?” he asked.

Tosh blushed and snatched the package from him, placing it firmly into her basket. “She’s not the only one who likes a mid-day treat,” she replied, not looking at him.

Owen laughed.

“Quiet or I’m putting the crisps back.”

“I’ll go get some juice,” he said.

Tosh smiled at him. “Just a few more things and then we’ll go pick up some electronic items I need for Elle.”

Owen looked at his watch. “What electronics store is open at this hour?”

Tosh smirked. “I know a guy.”

“ _You_ know a guy?” he asked, eyebrow raised.

Tosh narrowed her eyes at him. 

Owen put his hands up and slowly backed away. “Right. You know a guy. I’ll get the juice.”  
****

When Ianto and Jack came upstairs, they found Elle sitting on the worn couch, flipping through a magazine as she munched M&Ms.

“I thought too much caffeine was bad,” Jack said.

“A small bag of M&Ms is not ‘too much’. And you’ll have to talk to your daughter about it; it’s the only thing I found that didn’t make her threaten to empty my stomach,” she replied around a mouthful of chocolate.

“Is that another baby furniture catalogue?” Ianto asked.

“Yes. Apparently, it’s the only thing Gwen has stashed in her desk. I was hoping for some gossip mags but—what’s wrong?” she asked, catching the look on Jack’s face.

Jack shook his head. “Sorry. I’m just trying to figure out how to explain to Whitehall that half our annual budget went to paying for nursery items.”

Ianto snorted. “Like you ever look at the budget.”

“Hey! I…look at the last page where I have to sign and date it.”

Ianto rolled his eyes.

“I love you,” Jack tried, grinning.

Elle elbowed Jack. “The puppy dog eyes work better if you’re not grinning like a loon while using them,” she said in a stage whisper.

Ianto huffed out a laugh. “I’ll be getting the coffee, then,” he said, then headed for the coffee machine.

Jack rolled his eyes and glared at Elle. “You are not helping.”

“Hmmm. Yep, nope. ‘Help Jack get coffee and nekkid Ianto time’ are not on my list of duties,” she said, then popped another handful of M&Ms in her mouth.

“Yeah, about that list of duties. It’s going to increase today.”

“Really? How come?” Elle asked, her eyes bright.

“Long story. Better wait until everyone is here.”

She pouted.

“I’ve been sleeping with Ianto for a year. Your pout has no power over me,” Jack said, then turned to go help Ianto with the coffee.  
****

Tosh came through the cog door with her arms weighted down with bags. Owen followed, grumbling about the boxes Tosh had him carrying.

“Go on a bender, Tosh?” Jack asked.

She grinned and set her bags down on the table in front of Elle. Owen unceremoniously dropped the boxes on the couch beside her. 

“A multi-disc DVD player?” Elle asked, pulling the box onto her knees.

“With supplies,” Tosh said, handing a bag to her.

Elle looked inside, then looked up at Tosh with watery eyes. “You bought me hot men with guns. I love you, Tosh.”

“I also have breakfast and the supplies I’ll need to build those headphones Jack mentioned the other day,” Tosh continued.

Elle set the box and DVDs aside and began pawing through the bags of groceries. She fairly squealed upon finding some of the items and took the bags to the kitchenette with her.

“Where are you going?” Jack asked.

“To cook myself breakfast. If I wait on you any longer, Pip will be born before I get my next meal,” she called over her shoulder.

Jack looked at Ianto. “Hormones?”

“No, she’s always this cranky when she’s hungry.”

“Really?”

“Try being stuck in an SUV on stakeout with a hungry Elle.”

“Oh, I don’t know. It could be fun.”

Ianto thought about it. “Finding out the seats reclined fully _did_ make the time pass more easily,” he said, then followed Elle.

Owen nearly choked on his laughter and Tosh just shook her head at Jack.

“What?” Jack asked.

“Ran full-bore into that one, mate,” Owen said.

“Come on, Owen. Let’s get these things set up in Elle’s room,” Tosh said, gathering up the DVD player box. 

“I’ll get the telly out of the car,” Owen said, heading back out.

“You bought her a television?” Jack said.

“I had Ianto check the archives. We didn’t have any he felt it was safe for us to use,” Tosh replied.

“Right. Be quick, will you? We need to have a team meeting and that predictor of yours says it’s going to be a busy afternoon,” Jack said.

Tosh nodded and hurried off to Elle’s room.  
****

“My personal vote is that Elle stays on as cook to Ianto’s teaboy once the sprog is here,” Owen said, leaning back in his chair.

“Don’t push your luck, Harper. The hormones swung to ‘nice’ and ‘domestic’ this morning. That could easily change,” Elle warned.

Jack smiled and watched his team, his family, enjoy the breakfast Elle had put together. They were all seated in the conference room with the remains of their breakfast across the table. He caught Ianto’s glance again—his lover had been watching him closely all morning, knowing something was troubling Jack. He took a deep breath; now was as good a time as any. Carefully moving a knife out of Elle’s reach, he sat forward in his chair.

“We need to talk about Gwen,” he said.

“I got copied on her medical reports. She’s doing well,” Owen said.

“Yes and Rhys is recovering nicely, too. He should be able to be moved by this evening,” Jack said.

“Why are we moving them? Won’t Detective Swanson authorize further protection?” Tosh asked.

Jack gave a small, tight smile. “Actually, she doesn’t know they’re going to be moved. Yet.”

“What’s going on, Jack?” Ianto asked.

“I’m having Gwen and Rhys moved to a UNIT safe house for the foreseeable future.”

Tosh gasped.

“Safe house, Tosh. Actually meant to protect people from harm,” Jack clarified.

Owen reached out and squeezed Tosh’s hand.

“Why are you handing them over to UNIT for protection?” Ianto asked.

Jack took a deep breath and met Ianto’s gaze. If he just looked at Ianto, he could get through this.

“Gwen was the mole.”

The startled silence lasted only a moment.

“What?”

“The hell?”

“What the _fuck_ does that mean?”

The last was from Elle, already pulling herself up out of her chair. Ianto, whose eyes had never left Jack’s, reached out and took her wrist in his hand, guiding her back down into her seat. In his eyes Jack could see the anger and betrayal, but Ianto’s face never changed expression.

“She was the one feeding Torchwood 4 information,” Jack said, tearing his gaze from Ianto to look at Elle.

“I know what the fucking word _means_ , Jack. Why? How? And let’s not forget, why?” Elle asked, one arm wrapped protectively over her stomach and her other hand clenched in a fist on the table.

“She was concerned,” Jack began.

Tosh snorted. “Of course she was concerned. She was threatened.”

Jack turned to stare at her in shock. He hadn’t expected that kind of venom from Tosh. Sure, he knew Gwen and Tosh weren’t the best of friends, but they were teammates at least.

Tosh blushed. “Jack, she was so suspicious and jealous and we all hoped she would get past it.”

“She _did_!” Jack protested.

“Not quickly enough,” Ianto added softly.

Elle reached out and took his hand in hers.

“She figured it out,” Jack said calmly. “She figured it out and told Guppy she wouldn’t help him any more. Then they kidnapped Rhys.”

“Then how did the car bomb happen? We all saw Rhys on the street in the footage,” Tosh asked.

“Gwen says Guppy told her he was letting Rhys go as a show of good faith. Gwen went up to meet him and…you know the rest.”

“So, her boyfriend is kidnapped and they’re both nearly blown up so she’s _forgiven_?” Elle asked.

“It’s not that simple,” Jack said.

“You’re damn right it’s not. We almost lost Ianto yesterday, Jack. And they’ll do anything to take his child away from you. Are you just going to let her get away with that?” Elle asked, standing.

“No,” Jack replied.

“Good,” she said, then walked toward the door.

“But I’m not letting you go after her, either.”

Elle froze and turned to face him. “What?” she asked, her tone deadly and her expression fierce.

“You’re not going after her. She and Rhys are going to be put in a safe place until I decide what to do with her.”

“Are you _kidding_ me?” she asked, slamming her hands down on the table.

Jack stood and met her gaze. “I will lock down this Hub if I have to, but you aren’t going anywhere near her.”

“Why the fuck not?”

“Because right now you’re really pissed off and I know what you’re capable of. I won’t have you killing a member of my team.”

“But she can plot _my_ death? She can be the direct cause of _Ianto_ almost dying? She can arrange for _our child_ to be taken back by a bunch of monsters who will do god knows what to her? You _bastard_ ,” she said, then spun on her heel and left the room.

“Elle!” Jack yelled after her. He turned to look at Tosh. “Track her.”

“She’s heading for the training room,” Tosh said, pulling up the CCTV.

“You still have the Bot down and non-operational, right?” Jack asked.

A muscle in Tosh’s jaw jumped. “Yes.”

Jack sighed. “She’s wound up, Tosh. She wouldn’t put the protocols on.”

“Of course she bloody would,” Ianto growled.

“Right. I’m going to go over Rhys and Gwen’s medical records,” Owen said, rising.

“I’m going to go see what the Rift predictor is…predicting,” Tosh said distractedly. “I’ll be able to give you a better handle on what we should be expecting within an hour.”

They stood up and hurried out of the room, leaving Jack and Ianto alone.

“Ianto,” Jack said softly.

Ianto tore his gaze from the monitor, where he was watching Elle wrap her hands with fast, angry movements. “What, Jack?” he asked.

Jack flinched at both the tone and the anger coming off Ianto. Usually Ianto just interpreted and felt others’ emotions; but when he was particularly overwhelmed or emotional, he would broadcast as well. Especially to Jack.

“Why didn’t you warn me?” Ianto asked.

“I…you were wounded. I just wanted to take care of you, Ianto. I wanted a few hours with you that were about us. I didn’t want to worry about Gwen or Elle or the baby or this team. I wanted to worry about you.”

“So you take those few hours for yourself and then let me come in here completely unprepared for that emotional firestorm?”

Jack was shocked to silence. He hadn’t thought. Again. “Ianto, I’m sorry. I thought it would be easier if I only had to tell it once.”

“Easier for you,” Ianto said, then rose and left the room.  
****

“Stop,” Owen said gently, his fingers closing around Tosh’s wrist.

She looked up at him. “Stop what? I’m refining the predictions for this afternoon.”

Owen rolled his chair over and sat beside her. He flicked his gaze quickly to Jack's office, where the older man was staring blankly at the file in front of him. Occasionally, his gaze moved to the monitor on his desk showing the training room.

“On _that_ screen you’re working on the Rift predictor. On the minimized one, you’ve hacked into UNIT,” he said.

“Owen, really.”

“Tosh. Rhys doesn’t deserve to get jerked around by UNIT in his condition.”

“ _Rhys_ doesn’t,” she said. “And Rhys isn’t ready for transport. He’ll need a few more days.”

Owen’s eyebrows went up. “According to whom?”

“His treating physician.”

“You hacked his medical records and altered them? Just to get even with Gwen?”

“Not to get even,” she said fiercely. “To see she gets what she deserves.”

“I don’t recall you petitioning to send Ianto off to UNIT after the Cyberwoman.”

“Ianto did that for love. He didn’t mean to hurt anyone.”

“And yet we all still could have died.”

“Ianto almost did die. And for what?”

“For stupidity! You can’t punish someone for being stupid! She meant well.”

“She was selfish, Owen.”

“She meant well and she tried to do the right thing in the end.”

Tosh shook her head. “I should have known you’d defend her.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You and Jack. The two of you are always protecting her when she fucks up. You’re always defending her, even at the risk of someone else’s happiness.” She maximized the UNIT screen and typed in a few commands. “There. She and Rhys are back on schedule for a cushy safe house just outside the city. Now go away,” she said.  
****

Ianto walked into the training room and closed the door behind him. He slipped out of his suit coat, tie, belt, shoes and socks without comment. Elle was attacking the heavy bag with sharp, methodical blows. While she had seen him come in, she was in no mood to talk. Ianto took off his shirt and folded it on top of the other items. Clad only in his undershirt and trousers, he walked over to the bag and held it for Elle.

“You could reopen that wound of yours,” she said without breaking rhythm.

“You could go into early labor,” Ianto countered.

She snorted. “Dr. Harper said regular exercise is good.”

“I think he meant going for walks and stretching.”

She landed a particularly vicious left hook. “Really? He never specified to me. Why don’t you run along and check on that?”

Ianto executed a neat spin around the bag, catching Elle’s next punch in his hand. “‘Run along’?”

Elle jerked her hand out of his grip. “I am really not in the mood, Ianto.”

“Then maybe you should get in the mood,” he said darkly.

She smirked at him. He smiled back and barely dodged the headbutt. 

“Hey, that’s my move!” he said, stepping back and drawing her towards the mat in the middle of the floor.

“Then you should have used it first,” she replied, circling him.

“I was trying to take it easy on the pregnant lady.”

“You are such a fucking Boy Scout,” she said, sweeping his legs from under him.

Ianto quickly regained his feet. “Because being the martyr is so much better!” he said, landing a glancing blow across her left cheek. 

Elle laughed sharply. “Damn it! I never expect the right.”

“After all this time, you should.”

She smiled and moved back into her stance. They paced each other for a few minutes, landing smacking blows and sharp raps.

“I mean, I know you so well after all this time,” he continued, swatting her on the arse as he feinted past her.

“Do you now?” she asked.

“Yes,” he said, then pushed her back against the wall, holding her hands against it at her sides. “So why don’t you tell me what _you_ were planning to do to get the antitoxin from Guppy?”

Elle let out a long sigh and tilted her head back against the wall. “It doesn’t matter. Tosh had a better plan, we went with that.”

Ianto tugged her down until they were sitting side-by-side, their backs to the wall. “Tell me anyway.”

She rolled her head to look at him. “Yes, because I want to be the reason you get even more upset.”

He lifted his hand and cupped her cheek. “It matters, Elle.”

She leaned into his touch. “I was going to do what Guppy knew I would—save you.”

“And just how were you planning to do that?”

“I was going to have Owen deliver Pip and then turn myself in with a pillow under my shirt.”

“That’s—horrific.”

She shrugged. “It might have worked.”

He cupped her face in his hands. “You have to promise me you won’t do something that insane.”

“Ianto—”

“No. You’re about to be a mother, it’s time you stopped taking ridiculous risks for me.”

She closed her eyes.

“What?”

“You have to promise to stay calm,” she said, taking his wrists in her hands.

“Elle…”

“They didn’t give the baby your DNA because they wanted her to have an eidetic memory.”

“Then why?”

“They had done their homework, Ianto. They knew all about me. About my history and the risks I took for you. They gave the baby your DNA because they knew I wouldn’t do anything to hurt your child. They did it to bind me to the baby,” she said, then began to cry.

Ianto winced at the thought and pulled her tightly against him. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

She sniffed back her tears. “Not your fault. I just…well, I think there’ve been enough secrets lately.”

He sat and held her, rubbing her back and making soothing noises. He waited until her tears had stopped before speaking again.

“So…hormones?”

She laughed. “Yeah, hormones.”

Ianto tilted his head and kissed her softly. “Thank you for protecting me and my daughter.”

“You’re welcome.”

He brushed her tears away, then kissed her again. “I love you.”

“I know. I love you.”

“But if you ever suggest anything that insane again, I will lock you in a vault myself.”

“Okay.”

“Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.”

She let him help her to her feet. “I thought you liked me all hot and sweaty.”

“Yes, but there’s significantly more snot on your face than I’m comfortable with.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and rubbed her face on his shirt. With a laugh, she lifted her head and kissed him. 

“There, problem solved,” she said before heading off for the showers.

“ _One_ problem,” he said before following her.


	66. Détentes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jack and Elle fight and come to an agreement, Owen and Ianto to artifact hunting and have a deep talk, and Tosh is suspiciously quiet.

**66—Détentes**  
“What’ve you got, Elle?” Jack asked as the Rift alarm went off.

Elle whirled in Gwen’s chair and pulled up the screens. “Artifact. Middle of the bay,” she replied.

“All right. Owen, let’s—”

“Owen and I will go,” Ianto said, coming out of Autopsy with the doctor. Owen had been examining his wound and checking for any damage after his activities with Elle. Despite some grumbling about stubborn teaboys, Owen had declared the wound to be healing nicely.

“No way. You’re on light duties until further notice,” Jack said.

“Be sensible, Jack. This is an artifact. For all we know, the next thing to come through could be a lumbering and growling alien. Would you rather have only me watching Tosh’s back to fight it, or would you rather be available?” Ianto said, pulling on his suit jacket.

“We have no idea what type of artifact it is,” Jack protested.

“I have most of the archives memorized, Jack. There’s a good chance I’ll recognize it on sight,” Ianto argued.

“Besides, if it’s dangerous, he’ll have me there to patch him up. Again,” Owen said.

Jack turned to Tosh and Elle for help, but found them wearing matching challenging expressions. He realized that this was about more than just protecting Ianto.

“Fine,” he said, his voice tight. “You keep your comms open at all times and if there is any sight of trouble—”

“We’ll do what we’ve been trained to do,” Ianto said, reaching for his phone. “I’ll call for the boat. Owen, grab your gear.”

Owen smirked at Jack and grabbed his bag, following Ianto to the garage.

“Take Ianto’s car—Tosh and I may need the SUV!” Jack called after them.

Ianto waved back over his shoulder, letting Jack know he had heard.

Jack watched the two men disappear down the hall, then turned back to Tosh and Elle. “Well?”

“Very grown up of you, Jack. I’m proud,” Tosh muttered, turning back to her computer. The soft tapping of her fingers against the keys indicated she was done with the matter at hand.

Jack turned to look at Elle, who merely raised an eyebrow before getting up and going to the kitchenette. Jack followed her slowly, aware of Tosh’s gaze centered on the back of his head as he went.

“Yes,” Elle said as Jack joined her.

“Yes, what?”

“Yes, I’m still pissed off at you,” she said, taking ingredients out of the icebox.

“Pissed off at me in your own right or on Ianto’s behalf?” he asked, leaning against he counter.

She peeled three bananas. “Ianto is quite capable of being pissed off on his own. He is quite capable of expressing that anger to you at the appropriate time,” she said, putting the bananas into the blender with swift, angry movements. She turned to look at him. “Ianto is quite capable, period.”

“Right. So pissed off for your own reasons,” Jack said, handing her the frozen yoghurt. 

Elle sighed and turned to face him, hands on her hips. Jack decided not to tell her the stance would be more intimidating without the pronounced baby bump. The look on her face, however, made up for any lack of seriousness in her body. He had only ever heard tell of Elle’s righteous anger; he had a feeling he was about to get a face-full of it.

“You arrogant, ignorant twat,” she began. “I had really hoped that you would have finally learned something about Ianto and emotions. After everything that happened to him after Lisa; everything that happened after you left; everything that happened that only he and you remember; the absolute hell he went through putting you back together. All of that, and you still underestimate both his strength and his vulnerability.”

“I thought we were going to talk about why you’re angry; not why Ianto is angry,” Jack said, trying to defuse the situation. He realized that was the entirely wrong thing to say to do that, however, when Elle’s foot connected sharply with his shin.

“Do not make me kill you,” she said.

“Sorry, sorry,” Jack said, absently rubbing at his shin.

“Do you even know what you’re apologizing for?” she asked.

Jack looked up sharply, the sadness in her voice catching at something in his heart. “I know being an ass is not the answer you’re looking for.” He stepped forward to lean beside her, his shoulder pressed against hers. “Tell me why you’re angry.”

“I’m angry at myself.”

“Does that mean I get to kick you in the shin now?”

“No.”

Jack put his hand over hers on the counter and laced their fingers together.

“I should have seen it, Jack. I should have known Four would try something like that. Christ, infiltration slash and burns are what I used to do. Being a sneaky black ops girl is my thing. I should have been ready and put a stop to it before Ianto got hurt.”

Jack squeezed her hand. “We know now. We’ll be more careful. And Ianto’s going to be fine. He’s going to be angry at me for a little while longer and then he’ll forgive me. Before you know it, he and I will be arguing over something else. I’ll tell him something’s too dangerous and he’ll roll his eyes at me and deny sex.”

Elle laughed sharply, then leaned her head on his shoulder. “You have to be able to take care of them,” she said.

Jack looked at her, confused.

“Ianto and Pip. I have to know you can take care of them; that you can do this. I have to know that you can open your eyes and see what Ianto needs. What he deserves,” she said, lifting her head to meet his gaze.

“I can. Of course I can. I love him.” He paused and swallowed around the tightness in his throat. “And I’ll have you to kick me in the ass if I start to look like I’m going to do something boneheaded.”

She smiled and nodded at him. “If something happens to me, I need to—”

“Nothing is going to happen to you.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “This is Torchwood, Jack. And if you think I won’t ever return to field work, you are seriously delusional. Anything could happen and I need to know—”

Jack put his fingers over her mouth. “I will. I’m gonna make mistakes with Ianto, but I will always protect him and our daughter. Okay?”

She nodded and sniffed back her tears. “Sorry. These hormones have me all over the place. All the books say I should be jumping anything that moves, but I mainly just swing between crying and wanting to hit something.”

Jack’s eyes twinkled. “If that changes, you let me know,” he said, lowering his hand.

She laughed. “Lech.”

“And you love it.” 

She smiled softly. Jack finally nodded, satisfied that they were settled. “Now, about Gwen.”

“I promise to not try to find out where she is and run a covert op.”

Jack raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Oh, yes. I think you’re going to have enough on your hands stopping Tosh and Ianto from going after her. I plan on sitting back and watching the show.”

“She’s UNIT’s problem now.”

“Something tells me that’s not going to stop Tosh. And we both know Ianto’s going to need more than that.”

He nodded. “I’ll take Tosh with me on the next Rift run. And Ianto…”

“I’d suggest self-flagellation, a pulling of rank and lots of sex.”  
****

“I hate the water,” Owen grumbled, his hands wrapped around the railing in a death grip.

“You do realize we live on an island?” Ianto replied calmly, his legs slightly spread to keep his balance as the ship rode the waves.

“Big bloody island. Lots of inland,” Owen said, then leaned over the side.

Ianto reached out and grabbed him by the belt.

“I’m just spitting,” Owen said, indignant.

Ianto let go and put his hand back in his pocket. “Why move to Cardiff, then?”

“Same reason a man does anything—for a woman,” he said, turning to face away from the water. Maybe if he didn’t look at it, he wouldn’t get nauseous. 

Ianto quirked an eyebrow at that. He knew about Katie, of course—he had read Owen’s file. But he only knew about her in the abstract. And part of him found it odd that Owen was willing to bring her up now, to open a personal door between them. Either he was willing to try anything to take his mind off the seasickness or…

“People do stupid things for the ones they love, Ianto. To protect them. You should know that.”

Ah. Something else, Ianto thought.

“She never meant for anyone to get hurt, Ianto. You have to believe she could never have wanted it. Gwen may be unthinking and make bad decisions, but there’s not a malicious bone in her body,” Owen said, looking at Ianto.

“I know the risks of this job, Owen. Of this life. Getting shot? That could have happened even if Gwen hadn’t been helping them out. But she put my child in danger, Owen. Can’t you understand that?”

“I understand that you put the whole world in danger, and us specifically. I understand that Gwen came this close to being sliced and diced in our basement and we all. Forgave. You.”

“But you haven’t forgotten it.”

Owen opened his mouth, then closed it.

Ianto waited. After a few minutes, he gave Owen a small, sad smile. “You all forgave me, but you’ve never forgotten it. I’ve learned to accept that and to live with it. It’s taken time, for all of us. This will take time, too, Owen.”

“Fair enough. All I ask is that you remember no one killed you after the Cyberwoman.”

“And I ask you to remember that when I was falling apart and wanted to die after that, Elle is the one who was there for me.”

Owen nodded solemnly. “All right, then.”

The portable rift monitor beeped. 

“We’re close. I’ll go tell the captain to stop,” Ianto said.

Owen nodded and turned his face back to the ocean. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.

And then it started to rain.

“Bugger.”


	67. Executive Decisions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jack tries to help, Tosh is profound, Jack has to exert authority, evidence is lost and nothing is really gained.

**67—Executive Decisions**  
Owen and Ianto returned to the Hub two hours later, Owen soaking wet, grumbling and looking like a drowned rat; Ianto wind-blown and nearly edible. Jack tamped down on the personal reaction and tried to concentrate on the Torchwood matter.

“So what is it?” Jack asked, nodding at the containment box Ianto carried.

“Bloody nuisance. I’m getting a shower,” Owen said, shoving past Jack.

“Ianto?” Jack asked. 

Ianto hefted the box. “I’m not sure. It wasn’t giving off any radiation or other impulses, but it has some interesting markings I think will keep Tosh and Mainframe entertained for a while.”

“Good. Why don’t you warm up with a shower yourself and Tosh and I will get started on the analysis?” Jack asked.

“I’ve got it, Jack. Just shout if the Rift alarm goes off,” Tosh said, taking the box from Ianto.

“She’s still upset with you, I see,” Ianto said as he watched Tosh walk away.

“Yes. Although Elle and I have come to a kind of détente.”

“And you’re happy with that?”

“I consider only having one of the two scariest women I know mad at me a victory,” Jack confided.

“You do realize that, at this particular moment in time, Tosh is the more dangerous woman?” Ianto said, shrugging out of his coat.

“I may be stupid, but I’m not a complete idiot,” Jack said.

Ianto snorted. “Where is Elle?” Ianto asked as Jack followed him down to the communal showers.

“Down in her room. She took a banana milkshake and popcorn down with her and said she didn’t want to be bothered unless it was direly important.”

“Hot men with guns?” Ianto guessed.

“ _Farscape_.”

“We may never see her again.”

Jack laughed. “She said I should pull rank, self-flagellate and then offer sex to make things up to you.”

“Did she?” Ianto said, opening a locker to check a fresh suit was inside before starting to take his wet clothes off.

“Yes. However, given that she’s still upset with me, I’m not sure those suggestions aren’t a set-up.”

“I would not put it past her,” Ianto muttered, fighting with his wet tie.

“Let me help,” Jack said, reaching out.

Ianto rolled his eyes, but let Jack work on his tie as he turned his attention to unbuttoning his shirt. He frowned at his fingers, which were shaking with cold.

“I hope she gets that,” Jack said softly.

“What?”

“That little frown you get when you’re frustrated. Your lower lip sticks out a little as it turns down. I hope the baby inherits that.”

Ianto smiled at him. “Ah, so you went for softening me up with baby talk.”

“What? No, it just occurred to me,” he replied, cupping Ianto’s cheek in his hand.

“Jeez, Harkness, can’t you leave him alone for five minutes?” Owen interrupted, walking towards them with a towel wrapped around his waist.

“Owen, I—”

“He was just helping me with my tie. Thank you, Jack. I think Tosh could probably use your help upstairs,” Ianto said, gently stepping back from Jack.

Jack nodded and turned on his heel, leaving the two men alone.

“Trouble in paradise still?” Owen asked.

“Shut up, Owen,” Ianto said, slamming his locker closed.  
****

“Looming over me will not make this go any faster,” Tosh said, shooting a glance up at Jack.

“It’s never failed me before,” Jack replied.

“You should really have Owen examine you over your selective memory issues.”

Jack snorted.

Tosh sighed. “You know what would make this go faster? If you would tell me any information you have about what this thing might be.”

“If I knew what it was, wouldn’t I have told you?”

“I don’t know, Jack. You seem to enjoy keeping tidbits of information to yourself until you think we’ve earned the knowledge,” she said, turning to look at him.

Jack muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, “Ianto was right.”

“Sorry, what was that?”

“Nevermind. I have no idea what it is. Let me know when—”

He was cut off by the Rift alarm. 

“What is it?” Jack asked.

“It’s big and moving,” Tosh said, trying to access CCTV footage. “It’s stopped moving,” she said, surprised.

Owen came running from Autopsy, reaching them just before a dressed but un-tied Ianto and a nearly breathless Elle reached them.

“I thought you were resting,” Jack said to Elle.

“Rift Alarm trumps swollen ankles,” she replied, leaning over Tosh’s shoulder.

“It’s near our favorite warehouse,” Tosh said darkly.

“Wow. It’s too bad I don’t believe in coincidences. You are staying here,” Jack said to Ianto. “Tosh, grab your gear. We’re going hunting.”

Ianto rolled his eyes. “Just because I got shot once—”

“It’s Tosh’s turn for a field trip. You and Owen stay here and continue working on the artifact you brought back,” Jack said.

“Because Owen is so much help with artifacts!” Ianto said.

“Oi!” Owen protested at the same time.

“Shut it,” Jack said, putting on his Stern Leader face. “Tosh, get your gear. You and I are going to look at what came through. Elle, you’re on comms and CCTV—I want to know everything going on around where we’re going. Owen, you are keeping an eye on Elle and Ianto to make sure they don’t over-exert themselves. Ianto, use all those Archivist talents and figure out what the hell you and Owen pulled out of the bay earlier.”

They all nodded, knowing when to argue with Jack and when to back away slowly and follow orders. Tosh carefully pushed her chair back, standing to allow Elle to sit. Elle fitted her comm to her ear and began pulling up CCTV footage around the warehouse. Tosh disappeared briefly into the Armory to choose her weapons. Owen discreetly pulled himself back into Autopsy as Ianto and Jack stared each other down.

“Tell me,” Ianto began.

Jack took his arm and pulled him away from where Elle was sitting. “Tell you what?” he asked.

“Tell me this is not about me getting shot. Tell me this is not about you thinking I can’t handle it.”

“This is about making sure I have the freshest person in the field. You and Owen took the last call; this one is mine and Tosh’s. Plus, she and I need to have a talk and I’d prefer if the eyes and ears of the Hub weren’t tuned in for it.”

Ianto searched his face, then sighed with relief. “I believe you.”

Jack nodded. “Good.”

“I’ll get your coat, then.”  
****

“You know the drill, right?” Jack asked as he pulled the SUV to a stop and turned off the engine.

Tosh rolled her eyes at him. “I keep you ahead of me at all times. I take the keys to the SUV,” she said, holding out her hand.

Jack dropped the keys into her hand.

“And if things go south, I run like hell and leave your coat-bedecked arse to the monsters,” she finished, grinning cheerfully.

Jack sighed. “Tosh.”

“I am trying very hard to understand, Jack. I’m a genius and I’m having a hard time wrapping my brain around all this,” she said, looking down at her hands.

“I’m sorry.”

“I know you are, Jack. I know Gwen’s probably sorry, too. It’s just…I thought we were past all the scheming and lying. And I have to say I blame you for her actions, Jack. You’re always keeping things from us. I know you probably think it’s for our own good or might cause the universe to implode if we find out something we shouldn’t. But there are limits, Jack. We’re only human—we want to know. Especially Torchwood. We stand at the edge of that abyss and stare into it, daring things to come up out of it and pick on someone their own size. We need to know if we’re big enough to take the monsters. We couldn’t ask for a better leader, Jack. But we demand you be a better team member,” she said, her eyes dark as she stared at him.

Jack stared at her, speechless.

“Right. Sorted. Shall we?” she asked, her hand on the door handle.

Jack reached out and took her arm. “I will, Tosh.”

“Good. I hate having to be the mean one. Ianto’s so much better at it.”

They got out of the SUV and headed for the warehouse, Jack in front of Tosh and Tosh staring at the scanner in her hand.

“I’ve got no activity in a two mile radius, guys,” Elle’s voice came through the comms.

“I’m getting some interference on my scanner,” Tosh said.

Jack paused. “What kind?”

“Electromagnetic. Elle, what do you see?” Tosh replied.

“I’ve got the signal on whatever came through—it hasn’t moved and no one’s gone in.”

“Let’s change that, shall we?” Jack asked.

Tosh nodded and put the scanner away. She pulled out her gun.

“Elle, keep your eyes and sensors peeled,” Jack said as they moved toward the warehouse.

Jack and Tosh carefully made their way to the warehouse door, Jack signaling Tosh to stay back a few paces as he opened the door. She sidestepped to get out of the way of any debris a rigged door may cause. Jack opened the door carefully, and when he wasn’t blown up, he carefully stepped inside. He turned on his torch and shined it into the main room, pushing the shadows back even further. He turned his head and nodded to Tosh, who quickly joined him.

“Anyone else feel hinky about a canister sitting all by its lonesome in an empty warehouse?” Jack asked softly, shining his torch beam on the item in question.

“Now we know why it stopped moving; it stopped rolling,” Tosh muttered, pulling her scanner out again. “I’m still getting interference.”

Jack stepped forward cautiously, his gaze flicking from the shadows of the warehouse to the canister and back again. He crouched down beside the canister once he reached it. It was about half a meter in length and about the same in diameter. There was a blinking blue button on the side.

“Jack,” Tosh warned as Jack reached a hand out to the canister.

“Go to the door, Tosh.”

“You aren’t seriously thinking of pushing that button?”

“Well, I’m not going to take it back to the Hub blinking,” he argued.

“Jack, are you out of your bloody mind?” Ianto’s voice came through the comms.

“It’s a message canister, Ianto. Torchwood’s been chucking them into spatial anomalies for years,” Jack said calmly.

“So, what? You think Torchwood 4’s just sending an, ‘Okay, you win. Sorry about all the trouble.’?” Elle said.

“No. But I want to hear what they have to say,” Jack said, then reached up to turn off his comm.

In the Hub, Ianto looked at Elle. “Did he just?”

“Yes,” Tosh and Elle said at the same time.

“Tosh, get out of there. If he wants to be a complete arse and get himself killed, you don’t have to be there to watch it. But please ask him to be a grown up and turn his fucking comm on so we can hear his last minutes,” Ianto said harshly.

Tosh looked at Jack, a stricken look on her face. “Jack—”

“Go on, Tosh. Head for the SUV.”

“Turn your comm on so I can hear what’s happening,” she said as she backed away.

Jack nodded and turned his comm on. He waited until Tosh was outside the warehouse. “Here goes,” he said, pushing the button.

A beam came out projecting a hologram. Jack stood so he could look it in the eye.

“Captain Harkness. I underestimated you. It won’t happen again,” Reginald Guppy’s image said.

Jack snorted.

“You won’t see it coming, next time. I gave you the chance to be reasonable about this. Remember that in the days to come. That baby is mine, Jack. There was a time when I would have let you keep the mother, but now I’m taking everything that’s ours. And there’ll be nothing left for you to trace us. Good-bye.”

As the hologram began its last sentence, Jack broke into a run for the door. “TOSH! SUV! NOW!” he shouted into his comm. He had just breached the door and saw the SUV driving away to a presumably safe distance before stopping. Jack had just altered his route to meet up with it when the blast from the warehouse knocked him forward onto the ground.


	68. Sealing Fates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jack revives, Jack tries to get busy with Ianto, the team eats and disaster strikes.

**68—Sealing Fates**  
Four Torchwood members clapped their hands over their ears at the high-pitched interference caused by the blast shorting out Jack’s comm. Ianto leaned over Elle and helped her type in some commands. The screeching in their ears suddenly stopped.

“Tosh, do you read?” Ianto asked.

There was silence.

“Tosh!”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m here,” she replied.

“Status report,” Ianto said.

“Are you all right?” Owen asked her at the same time.

“Fine. SUV shook a bit from the blast, but it held up. Remind me not to gripe anymore about the tight confines caused by the reinforced frame,” she said, breathless.

Owen and Elle let out breathless chuckles.

“Can you see Jack?” Ianto asked.

In the SUV, Tosh shifted her body to peer out the passenger-side window. “Yes. He’s…he’s down.”

“Is he moving?” Ianto asked.

“No. Wait, he’s coming back,” she said, watching Jack jerk up off the ground.

“Tosh, stay in the SUV. Don’t go out to him,” Ianto said. He turned to Elle. “Scan to make sure there’s no one on the rooftops waiting to pick off survivors.”

Elle nodded and pulled up CCTV footage and a scanning screen. “No life signs besides Jack and Tosh. No sign of any cloaking tech,” she replied.

“Wait in the SUV anyway, Tosh,” Owen said.

“Yes, Owen. I’m not an idiot,” she said. She watched Jack hurriedly gain his feet and turn to look toward the SUV. She waved at him. Jack grinned and hurried to the SUV, opening the passenger door.

“Don’t suppose you’d let the resurrected man drive us back?” he asked.

Tosh shook her head, smiling. She pulled a spare comm unit out of the glove compartment and handed it to him.

“Thanks, Tosh,” he said, replacing his blast-damaged one. He quickly keyed it. “Ianto, please make a call to get these flames taken care of. Tell them any evidence gets sent over to Torchwood.”

“Will do,” Ianto replied.

“Tosh, wait here while I go get that canister,” Jack said, beginning to take off the greatcoat. He laid it across the passenger seat.

“Jack?” Tosh questioned.

“If I bring that thing back with soot damage one more time, Ianto will have my head. Lock up behind me,” he said, then closed the passenger door.  
****

They returned to the Hub 45 minutes later to find Elle working at Tosh’s workstation and Ianto on the phone, speaking in Welsh in a tone just this side of shouting.

“Who is he talking to?” Jack asked Elle as Owen stormed out of autopsy to meet them.

“Are you all right?” Owen demanded, running his hands over Tosh to look for broken bones.

She batted his hands away. “I’m fine, Owen. I told you that already.”

“Oh, sure. Don’t ask the guy who nearly got blown up if he’s all right,” Jack said, smiling.

“You’re always fine,” Owen grumbled.

Ianto had gotten close enough to hear the last part of his colleagues’ exchange and watch Jack’s face fall at Owen’s words. “ _Cachu_!” he said into the phone. “No, not you, Andy. Well, yes, you. Do your bloody job and quit being such a monumental pain in my arse!” he shouted, then closed his phone.

“Everything okay?” Jack asked cautiously.

“Fine. If Gwen ever gets out of that safe house, remind me to strangle her for giving Andy my mobile number. He just wanted to make sure that it was ‘ _really_ you and one of your spooky dos’ calling for help with the fire and clean-up at the warehouse,” Ianto said.

“How is the clean-up going?” Jack asked. After he had retrieved the remains of the canister and stored them in the boot of the SUV, he and Tosh had gotten the hell out of Dodge as quickly as possible. He knew that, deep down, he didn’t want to have to face the possibility of running into Andy (and his incessant questions about Gwen) at the scene. It hadn’t occurred to him that it meant that Ianto would have to deal with Andy. Add that to the list of things he had to apologize to Ianto for. At this rate, he’d be on his knees for months.

He tried not to grin at the inappropriate images _that_ thought brought up.

“…and they should be finished soon,” Ianto was saying.

“Good,” Jack said, smiling at the Welshman. “I knew it was best left in your capable hands.”

“Indeed,” Ianto said, turning to join Elle.

Tosh cocked an eyebrow at Jack. “Are you going to get the remains out of the SUV, or should I?” she asked.

“Remains? What remains? Did you find victims?” Ianto asked, turning back to them.

“She means the remains of the canister. I have it in a box in the SUV’s boot. I’ll go get it,” Jack explained.

“I’ll get it. You could use a change of clothes,” Ianto said, his hand on Jack’s arm.

Jack put his hand on Ianto’s and squeezed lightly. Ianto knew he hated coming back from death. “I didn’t get the coat too damaged this time,” he said brightly.

Ianto smiled at him, his entire expression softening.

“I almost preferred it when they were fighting,” Owen muttered without any real malice in his tone.

Tosh aimed a half-hearted swat at his head.

“Right. I’ll just get the artifact from earlier out of your way, then,” Elle said, standing.

“No way,” Jack said, moving to block her path.

“What?” she asked.

“You’re not going anywhere near that thing until we’re sure it’s not connected to Torchwood Four,” Jack said.

“Jack, I hardly think they’re going to attack me with recipes,” she said.

“What?” Jack asked, confused.

“The translation program finished while you were gone,” Ianto explained. “We figured out how to open it up and it’s filled with recipes. A couple of them look promising.”

“Recipes from the Rift. Sounds like a bestseller, teaboy,” Owen said.

“Yes, well, I won’t be inviting you over to try them,” Ianto replied, then turned on his heel to go divest the SUV of its new cargo.

“Must you?” Tosh asked Owen.

“What?”

She rolled her eyes and took her seat at her station. Elle stood looking at Jack. “So am I allowed to get the recipes or not?” she asked.

“Not,” Jack replied. “Owen, make doubly sure there’s nothing on or in that thing that could hurt anyone. Then turn it over to Ianto. If he wants to try the recipes, I’m willing to see what he comes up with. _I_ am going to go get a fresh change of clothes,” he said, never taking his eyes off Elle.

Elle threw her hands up. “I’m going down to the firing range to put holes in things.”

Jack grabbed her arm. “Oh no, you’re not. Pip’s matured since your last trip down there and I’m not sure what that kind of noise would do to her ears. You’re just going to have to find other ways to entertain yourself.”

Elle clenched then unclenched her jaw. “Fine. I owe Owen a chance to jab at me with a needle and then I’m going to go watch hot men blow things up. And then maybe I’ll just watch hot men blowing each other,” she said, then headed off for Autopsy.

Jack watched her go, torn between letting her go and wanting to know if any of the “blowing” footage had been supplied by Tosh.

“Don’t look at me for help,” Tosh muttered, feeling Jack’s eyes on the back of her head.

Jack turned to Owen.

Owen snorted. “Right, mate. Sure you don’t have brain damage from that explosion?”

“Go examine those recipes,” Jack demanded.

Owen held his hands up in surrender, but headed off to do as Jack asked.

Jack sighed and went to his room to change into a fresh set of clothes.  
****

When Jack returned back upstairs, he found Elle coming up out of autopsy rubbing her arm.

“Everything okay?” Jack asked her.

“I will be very happy when I’m no longer a bloody invalid pincushion,” she said, pushing past him.

Jack caught her arm. “You’re not an invalid.”

“But I’m useless,” she grumbled.

“You’re not. I’m just trying to protect you.”

“I’m tired of being protected.”

“I know. I know how awful this has to be for you. More than anyone else, I know what it means to feel helpless and to not want to let others take care of you,” Jack said softly.

“And?”

“And with patience, we’ll have you back in the field and blowing shit up in no time?” he said, hopeful.

“ _Now_ you’re talking. Ow!” she said, rubbing her stomach.

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah. She’s just usually fussy after an injection. I think she’s as fond of them as I am.”

Jack put his hand on her stomach and felt little feet poking back at him. He smiled. “That never ceases to be amazing.”

“I know.”

Ianto came through the tunnel from the garage, the box with the container’s remains in his hands, to see Jack and Elle staring at her stomach. “She kicking?” he asked from where he stood.

“Yeah. Get that into one of the exam labs and then come join us,” Jack said.

“I’ll take it,” Tosh said, taking the box from Ianto so he could hurry over to Jack and Elle.

“Rugby player,” Ianto said, his hand beside Jack’s.

“I think she’ll manage to get into quite enough fights on her own, thank you. We don’t need to sign her up for organized ones,” Elle said.

“Hey, I stay out of as many fights as I can,” Jack protested.

“First, bullshit on that. Second, I was talking about Ianto. Or hasn’t he told you about how he broke his nose when he was nine?” Elle said.

Ianto rolled his eyes. “If all the two of you are going to do is tell embarrassing stories about me, I’m going to go help Tosh play with tech.”

Elle kissed him on his cheek. “I’m sorry. I’m cranky. Hormones suck. How about some food?”

“Wow. I don’t think she paused for breath there,” Jack said.

“She generally doesn’t when her brain is fast-tracking like that,” Ianto replied.

“Food. Now. Or _I’m_ going to go play with Tosh,” Elle prompted.

“What will it be tonight?” Ianto asked.

“Mexican. I want tacos!” she said.

“And what would Pip like?” Jack asked.

“ _She_ wants jalapeños, which she is not getting because the smell makes me nauseous. She’ll have to deal with only getting Tabasco,” Elle replied.

“I’ll see what the others would like and place the orders,” Ianto said.

“I’ll join you up in the tourist office shortly. We can wait for the delivery guy together,” Jack said, Grinning.

“If my food is cold when it gets down here because you needed to take time to shag him against his desk, I will be thoroughly unimpressed,” Elle said archly.

“Oh, go check Tosh’s Rift prediction program or something,” Jack said, waving her off.

“I’ll just see about those dinner orders, then,” Ianto said before heading down to Autopsy.  
****

“Jack,” Ianto said, the scolding tone ruined by his gasps.

“Elle has the _best_ ideas,” Jack said, his breath caressing Ianto through the material of his boxer briefs.

Ianto’s hands tightened around the edge of the desk. “I feel the need to point out that my back is to the—oh, you bastard,” he gasped as Jack began nibbling his way across Ianto’s hipbones.

“Mmm,” Jack replied, dragging his tongue across the taut flesh over Ianto’s left hip. “The door is locked. We’ll hear the delivery guy when he tries the knob.”

“Yes, but—gah!” Ianto cried out. He looked down to see Jack staring up at him as he licked Ianto’s right hipbone. Once he had the younger man’s eye, he reached up with his hand to caress Ianto’s cock with the tips of his fingers.

Ianto had just reached down to run his fingers through Jack’s hair when the door shook as someone tried to open it. He jerked upright so quickly that Jack fell back onto his rear on the floor.

“Ow,” Jack said cheerfully, rubbing his arse as he stood.

Ianto ignored him and quickly re-buttoned his shirt and adjusted his trousers. He had just finished refastening his trousers and belt when Jack reached the door.

Jack flashed Ianto a quick smile before he opened the door. “You need to work on your timing,” he said to the freckle-faced teen standing on the other side with bags of food.

“Sir?” the delivery boy asked.

“Never mind,” Jack said, pulling out his wallet. He handed the boy the money and took the bags off him. “Have a good night, kid,” he said, then shut and locked the door in the boy’s face.

He turned to look at Ianto, who was carefully smoothing his tie. “I will never cease to be amazed at the speed with which you pull yourself together.”

“You give me no shortage of practice, sir,” Ianto replied, opening the door to the Hub.

Jack laughed and followed him, unable to resist a discreet pinch to Ianto’s arse.

“Salsa!” Elle yelled, nearly pouncing on the two men as they came through the cog door and cage.

“Well, all right,” Jack said, handing the food over to Ianto. He took Elle in his arms and led her through a series of complicated steps. She laughed as she tried to keep up.

“I meant the food, you idiot,” she said as he dipped her.

“You have to be specific around here, Elle. Otherwise, everything is an innuendo to Jack,” Owen said, snagging bags from Ianto and heading for the conference room.

“Let me up, Jack. If Owen eats my tacos, I’m going to kill him,” Elle said.

Jack grinned. “Glad you asked. You were getting kinda heavy.”

“Piss off,” she said as he stood her up. She trotted after Owen, yelling at him about tacos.

“The waddle is definitely more pronounced when she’s moving fast,” Jack said.

“Don’t let her hear you say that,” Ianto replied.

“Do I look like I’m stupid?”

“Do you want an honest answer to that?” Tosh asked as she went past them.

Jack sighed. “Is Everyone Be Pissy to Jack Day over yet?”

Ianto clapped him on the shoulder. “Almost.”  
***

“How can five people make such a huge mess?” Jack asked, hands on his hips. He was surveying the detritus of the team’s dinner.

“I have been asking myself that for more than a year,” Ianto said, moving around the table with a bin liner in his hand.

“I think Jack makes enough mess for three people,” Elle said, moving to help Ianto.

“Hey!” 

“He does have the rather bad habit of talking with his mouth full,” Ianto said.

“Never complained before,” Jack muttered.

Elle laughed, then doubled over.

“It wasn’t _that_ fun—Elle?” Jack said, rushing over when she didn’t straighten up immediately.

She went down on her knees, gasping. Then she screamed.

“Owen!!” Ianto shouted. He ran over to Jack and Elle. 

“What is it?” Owen asked, appearing at the door.

“I thought you gave her the injection!” Jack hissed at him.

“I did! Can you lift her? I need her in Autopsy,” Owen said before turning.

Jack looked at Ianto, who lifted a shaking and moaning Elle into his arms. He ran as fast as he could down into Autopsy, Jack close on his heels. Ianto set Elle down on the table, then was pushed aside as Tosh and Owen began hooking her up to equipment.

“What’s going on, Owen?” Jack asked. He felt Ianto reach out to take his hand.

“She’s having another progression fit,” Owen replied. He and Tosh turned Elle onto her side. “Ianto, stand behind her and make sure she stays on her side.”

Ianto nodded and stood behind Elle, putting one hand on her shoulder and another on her lower back, rubbing in slow circles. Elle continued to shudder and bit back a shout.

“I need you to tell me what’s going on, Elle. You scream all you want, but you have to talk to me!” Owen ordered, trying to take her blood pressure.

“Hurts! New!” she gasped out.

“Okay, the pain is different, yeah,” Owen said, making note of her blood pressure. He looked up at Tosh, who had been monitoring Elle’s heart rate. Tosh shook her head.

“What?” Jack asked, catching the look.

Owen bent down to look Elle in the eye. “I need you to work with me, Elle. I can give you something to slow the seizures.”

Elle shook her head violently. “No!” she said, then gasped as another shudder tore through her. “Baby.”

“We won’t hurt the baby. But if we don’t get this under control, your heart is going to explode,” Owen said.

“What?!” Jack asked. Tosh walked over and took his arm. He shook her off. “Owen, do it!”

“No!” Elle gasped fiercely.

“That’s an order!” Jack yelled.

Owen hurried to obey, preparing a syringe.

“No, please,” Elle said, trying to fight him off. Ianto wrapped his arms around her from behind. He held her arm out for Owen as he murmured soothingly in her ear.

Owen gave her the injection and the shudders began to diminish in intensity. After a few minutes, they were able to roll Elle onto her back. She shifted uncomfortably as Owen put an IV drip in.

“Better?” he asked.

“How’s the baby?”

Owen set up the ultrasound and took a look. “Her heart rate is good. She’s still moving normally. And she’s now about 34 weeks.”

Elle breathed a sigh of relief, then groaned as she shook again.

“What happened?” Jack asked.

“I don’t know. I gave her the shot earlier and everything was fine.”

“Owen!” Tosh shouted.

The doctor turned to see Elle gasping for breath. He quickly got one of the oxygen units and put the mask over her nose and mouth. “Breathe normally.”

She nodded, clutching Ianto’s hand.

Owen pulled Tosh and Jack aside. “I need to run some tests on Elle. You should check the food.”

“What?” Tosh asked.

“The food and that container from the warehouse are the only things new to the environment. You need to run tests so I know what I’m up against.”

“And Elle? The baby?” Jack asked.

“The baby is perfectly fine, Jack.”

“And Elle?”

“I need to run some tests.”


	69. Rituals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which tests are run, a naming occurs and Ianto suggests something he never thought he would.

**69—Rituals**  
“What is taking him so damn long?” Jack asked, pacing.

Elle was lying on the bed in Autopsy, the back angled up so she could watch what was going on around her. Ianto stood at her side, trying very hard not to attach any dire meaning to the numbers flashing on the monitors attached to her. If it were something Owen couldn’t handle, he’d have moved Elle to a hospital. She wouldn’t still be here with them.

She pulled the mask away from her face. “Can you make him stop?” she whispered. “He’s making me nervous.”

“Jack,” Ianto said softly.

“What?” he said, then schooled his features when he saw the sight in front of him. Elle was in a scrub top, a heavy blanket tucked around her waist. Ianto held one hand. Elle’s free hand was resting on her much larger stomach. He tried to ignore the IV port in the back of her hand and the bags of saline hanging next to her bed.

“You should leave that on,” he said, gesturing to her oxygen mask.

“Owen says if my sats are good at the next check, I can move to the cannula,” she said, her voice thready. 

“Until then, mask on,” he replied, walking over to stand beside her. He smiled at Ianto over Elle’s head.

Elle rolled her eyes, but did as he asked.

Tosh came down the stairs quickly. “Owen says she can come off the oxygen, but keep it handy in case she needs it,” she said, then hurried back into the main Hub before they could ask any questions.

Elle pulled the mask off and set it to the side. “All right. Since I’ve got the two of you here, there’s something we need to discuss.”

“Oh?” Jack said, wheeling the stool over to Ianto so the younger man could sit down.

“Yes. We’ve been dancing around it and, with what happened today, we really need to talk about it.”

“We’re listening,” Ianto said.

“She needs a name. We need to agree on a name in case anything happens,” she said, her voice still quiet, but forceful.

“Nothing is going to happen,” Jack protested.

“I’m having trouble breathing and my body is exhausted because something has already happened. Humor me,” she said, then took a deep breath from the mask.

“No getting over-excited,” Ianto said.

“My baby just aged about three months in ten minutes. This is as calm as I can get,” she replied.

“All right.” Jack looked up at Ianto. “I asked Elle to put Rose on the list.”

Ianto smiled. “Me, too.”

“Really?” Jack asked.

“You guys really need to learn to talk to each other. Again. Some more,” Elle said.

“We’ll work on it,” Ianto said, leaning over to kiss her on the forehead.

“Okay. Rose is on the list. What else?” Jack asked.

“I think we should name her after what got us here,” Elle said, softly stroking her stomach.

“You want to name her ‘funky science’?” Jack asked.

She gave him a Look. “Faith,” she said softly.

Jack swallowed the sudden lump in his throat. “Elle—”

“It’s perfect,” Ianto interrupted.

“I like Rose,” Jack said hoarsely.

“Faith Rose has a nice ring to it,” Elle said. “We can call her Rose if you’d like.” The _if that’s easier_ went unspoken.

“She is going to have a mouthful of a last name; giving her a short first name would be helpful,” Ianto said.

“See? There’s our Ianto—logical to the end,” Elle said.

“Okay. Faith Rose it is. Faith Rose Atreides-Jones,” Jack said.

“Harkness,” Ianto and Elle said at the same time.

Jack just looked at them, awe shining on his face.

“Faith Rose Harkness-Jones,” Elle said, then reached up to cup Jack’s cheek in her hand. “You idiot.”

“Oh. Right. Of course.”

“We’re glad you agree,” Ianto said, smiling at his lover.

“How are you feeling, Elle?” Owen asked as he came down into Autopsy.

“My back and arse hurt from being on this poor excuse for a mattress,” she replied.

“Mm-hm,” he said, studying the outputs from her monitors. He was buying time; the readouts had been streaming on his terminal upstairs. He knew what the readouts were and what they meant; he just didn’t know how to tell the three people in front of him what it meant.

“And now that the snark is out of the way, how are you really feeling?” he asked, taking Elle’s wrist to check her pulse.

“Exhausted, sore and cranky.”

“Still having trouble breathing?”

“Not as much, no.”

“Chest pain?”

“Manageable,” she replied, narrowing her eyes at him.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Ianto asked.

“ _Manageable_ ,” she repeated.

“Good. We’re going to adjust your bed so you can get some sleep. It’ll put less strain on your heart if we lay you down,” Owen said, reaching for the controls.

Elle wrapped her hand around his wrist. “Wait.”

“What’s wrong with her heart?” Jack said at the same time.

Owen sighed. “Normally, the baby’s progression cycles age her about two weeks. This one aged her _13 weeks_. The baby has come through it with flying colors, thanks to your genes, Jack. But it has put a serious toll on Elle’s body.”

“How serious?” Elle asked.

“For right now, you are on strict bed rest and nothing that could cause you any undue stress,” Owen replied.

“Why can’t we just deliver her now? Shouldn’t she be developed enough to survive?” Elle asked.

“Childbirth falls under ‘undue stress’,” Owen said. “I want to keep both of you healthy until you’re both ready for delivery.” He took a deep breath and looked at Jack and Ianto. “From now on, no ordering in. No eating anything one of us hasn’t purchased, prepared and run through our scanners.”

“So they got to the food, then,” Ianto said.

“Yeah. Tosh says the canister is clean except for trace elements of having gone through the wormhole. She got a giddy little grin on her face over those; she’s running analysis to try to refine our scanners,” Owen said.

“Well, I’m glad _someone’s_ having a good time,” Jack said harshly.

“Hey! Me having to yell at you over that comment is not me resting!” Elle snapped, the threat weakened by the weariness in her voice.

“Does Elle have to stay in here tonight?” Ianto asked.

“I want to keep her monitored overnight. If everything stays stable, we can move her into her room in the morning,” Owen confirmed.

“I’ll go get you your pillows and blankets, then. It’ll make you more comfortable,” Ianto said. He gave her hand a squeeze before leaving Autopsy, giving Jack a look.

“I think teaboy wants to talk to you,” Owen said.

“His _name_ is _Ianto_!” Jack growled.

Elle put a hand on his arm. “Hey! Chill the hell out unless you want this baby coming right freaking now!”

It was the fact that she had to reach for the oxygen again more than her words that brought Jack back.

“Right. I’ll go help Ianto. Owen, try warming that thing up before using it,” he said, nodding at the stethoscope in the doctor’s hand.

“She likes the shock,” he argued.

Jack glared at him over his shoulder.

“While true, so not the time to bring that up,” Elle mumbled to Owen.  
****

Jack found Ianto down in Elle’s room, folding blankets neatly and stacking the down pillows Elle preferred on top. Watching his slow, methodical movements soothed Jack even as it caused him concern. He could see the deep frown on Ianto’s face; the one he only got when he was completely lost in his own thoughts.

“This is getting out of hand,” Ianto said. 

“I know. We’ll be more careful from now on,” Jack replied, stepping fully into the room.

“Not that. The team is coming apart. First Gwen, then you keeping things from me and the team, and now you’re sniping at Tosh and Owen for no reason,” Ianto said.

“Okay, what do we do, then?” Jack asked, sitting on the edge of the bed. He purposefully placed himself between Ianto and the pile he’d made so the younger man would have to look at him. Instead, Ianto turned away and stared at the wall for a few moments.

“We could…” Ianto started, then trailed off. “Never mind. You’d hate it.”

“What?” 

“You could call the Doctor,” he said quietly, then turned to face Jack.

“What?” Jack asked, leaping to his feet. He took Ianto’s shoulders in his hands, rubbing gently.

“Call the Doctor. He could take Elle and the baby…and you. You could go someplace beyond Torchwood 4’s reach. She could be stress-free and safe until the baby comes.”

Jack cupped Ianto’s face in his hands. “Without you?”

“We can’t all leave Torchwood. It makes sense. You and Elle are the ones Four is interested in.”

“And you’re who _I’m_ interested in. I’m not going anywhere without you.”

“Jack, it’s breaking my heart to suggest this. Please don’t make it harder.”

“It’s not an option, Ianto,” Jack said, then leaned in to kiss him. Ianto took Jack’s wrists in his hands, holding him in the kiss for a few moments before stepping back.

“It could be our only option. They’ve already proven they’re waiting for us to get clumsy. I can’t let my concern over your baggage with the Doctor get in the way of my daughter being safe,” Ianto said, looking into Jack’s eyes.

Jack stared into Ianto’s eyes and saw how much it was taking for Ianto to even suggest this. How much he was personally willing to sacrifice just so his daughter and a woman he loved could be safe and whole. Just so Jack could have a family.

“ _I_ am not going anywhere. _Elle_ is not going anywhere. _Our daughter_ is not going _any. Where,_ ” Jack said fiercely.

“Jack, we need to be practical. We have to think about this like—”

Jack put his finger over his mouth. “Tomorrow, we will go over any and every security measure you want. Every security measure that keeps you, Elle and the baby here with me. I am not losing any more of my family to this. Do you understand?”

Ianto did. He understood what losing all of them had done to Jack during that Year. He knew exactly what him dying again or losing the baby would do to Jack; it would devastate him. If he lost all of them, it would break Jack and this time there wouldn’t be anyone to pick up the pieces.

“I am not trusting their safety and future to a man who cares more for a mass murderer than he does for anyone else,” Jack said, stepping back from Ianto.

“What?”

Jack turned to face Ianto and smiled sadly. “A year, Ianto. I spent a year being murdered. Being tortured physically, mentally and emotionally. I spent part of that year mourning you; broken because I couldn’t save you. I was the Master’s plaything. And I did it because I knew the Doctor and Martha needed time to save humanity. I survived it because I _believed_ in him.”

Jack sat on the bed and put his face in his hands; unable to look at Ianto as he prepared to make his last confession. “I believed, and when it came down to the end, he cared more about the life of that monster,” Jack spat the word, “than he did about me. About any of us. Humanity almost ended. My entire world was shattered, and he only shed tears for the person who caused all that death and heartache. For the person who tortured and murdered you and left your body on a cold floor for me to find. He cares more for the Master because _he’s_ a Time Lord. And because I’m _wrong.”_

Ianto sat beside him and put his arm around his shoulders, pulling Jack close against him. “You’re not wrong. And you’re not a monster. You are incredible, Jack. You are amazing and frustrating and beautiful and complicated. But you are not wrong.”

Jack turned his face into Ianto’s neck and kissed the warm skin just above his collar. “Thank you.”

Ianto pulled back and made Jack look him in the eye. “I mean it. And if I have to lock the Doctor in a room and let Tosh and Elle at him until he realizes it, the Doctor will, too.”

Jack laughed harshly, then wiped his eyes. “I’d pay good money to see that.”

“In the meantime…”

“Ianto, please.”

“In the meantime, we have to consider the Doctor as an option.”

“He may not want to help. I mean, he thinks I’m wrong. Who knows what he’ll think of my child.”

Ianto sat up straight, a stern look on his face. “Then we’ll just regenerate him until we get a Doctor we can work with.”

Jack leaned forward and kissed Ianto soundly. “I love you, Ianto Jones.”


	70. Alterations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Torchwood gets many visitors.

**70—Alterations**  
For two weeks, things were blissfully normal at the Hub. Tosh had gotten the Bot working enough to go to Elle’s house with Jack and Owen to clean out the remainder of the weapons and artifacts Elle had stored there. Tosh was still working on restoring anything more than the most basic motor functions to the Bot; Elle had promised to give her the number of someone who could help. They had set up a settee down in Archives with Ianto’s desk so he and Elle could work together to get everything from her house sorted and properly stored. 

Ianto and Jack had shorn up the Hub’s security. They had even hosted some UNIT contractors for a few days to get the new medical bay built and filled with equipment. Ianto had decided there were several rooms on the same level as Jack and Elle’s current rooms that needed just a little work to be completely habitable; he had used some of the UNIT men to make those changes as well. Tosh had giggled as Elle sweet-talked the UNIT men into working on the new nursery. They had offered to help put the furniture together, but she had reserved that special privilege for the daddies. Tosh swore she had never laughed harder in her life than she had watching the CCTV footage of Jack and Ianto struggling with the crib. She also kept to herself the fact that she wasn’t quite sure the men’s later activities were the proper way to christen a nursery. Owen had smiled broadly as he gave the UNIT contractors some of Ianto’s coffee on their way out the last day. Jack was glad to see the back of them, as he insisted UNIT stay in the Hub for the duration and they had been underfoot the entire time. He was also pretty sure at least one of them had been flirting with Ianto. Owen knew one of them was flirting with Tosh. 

Despite the Retconning of several of their workers, UNIT kept Jack apprised of the status of their houseguests. Rhys was recovering nicely and Gwen was climbing the walls with boredom. Jack was unable to work up any sympathy for the woman, even though it looked like Rhys was watching an awful lot of rugby and Wife Swap.

Martha and Tom had come up a few days before to ride out the rest of Elle’s pregnancy with them. Jack was glad to have Martha’s hands and brain in the field on a few occasions, but Tom was loath to let his fiancée out of his sight too often. He had heard the stories of Jack and Torchwood and what they did. If anything, it was far scarier than UNIT. He also bristled about the fact that he was often summarily ordered to stay in the Hub like a child. When he voiced this grievance to Elle, she had rolled her eyes and told him to come talk to her when he couldn’t go out in the field because he couldn’t see his ankles.

And despite Dr. Guppy’s hologram’s words, Torchwood 4 had been quiet since the spiking of Elle’s food. The entire team had all held their breath the day before, as the progression cycle came due, but the day passed uneventfully and the pregnancy continued on a natural course for the first time.

“What’s the flavor today?” Owen asked Martha as he joined her in the brand new medical bay.

“Is that new cologne?” Elle asked from her perch on the exam table. She sat up and sniffed, trying to catch a stronger whiff of it.

“Uh, no,” Owen replied. “Again?” he asked Martha.

“Again. You should warn the boys. Tell Ianto not to wear anything with pinstripes.”

“It would be easier if you’d just tell Ianto to not wear anything at all,” Elle added. “Or Jack. Or Tosh. Have you seen Tosh’s boobs? They’re amazing. I bet she has trouble sleeping on her stomach. Not that I should talk about stomachs. Man, I’d like a sandwich.”

“You are meant to be relaxing, young lady. Thinking about Tosh’s boobs is not relaxing,” Owen scolded, trying not to laugh.

“You would know,” Elle said to Owen’s back as he left the room.

“What’s the verdict?” Ianto asked as Owen reached the main part of the Hub.

“Horny with a side of butterfly-sized attention span,” Owen replied. “Thanks,” he added as Ianto handed him a cup of coffee.

“Well, there goes working with her in the archives.”

“Afraid of the pregnant lady, Ianto?” Jack asked as he joined them.

“Terrified. So are you.”

“I’m just worried my natural magnetism will over-excite her,” Jack replied. He leaned forward to kiss Ianto softly.

“Wow. That’s hot,” Elle said.

“Morning, gorgeous. Would you like some breakfast?” Jack said.

“Yes. And then I need a favor,” she replied, smiling.

“Oh, I know that smile. Tell her no,” Ianto advised.

“He’s in charge,” she said, pointing at Jack, “so that means you don’t get a vote.”

Ianto looked at Jack, waiting for him to step in. “Um, because I’d like to have sex again at some point, I’m going to have Ianto weigh in on this,” Jack said.

“Oi! What about me? I’m her doctor!” Owen protested. He had a feeling he knew where Elle was going with this, and he wasn’t quite ready to face up to that with Jack and Ianto.

“I don’t care if you have sex again,” Jack replied.

Elle laughed. “It’s nothing, really. I just need to see someone.”

“Who?” Jack asked.

“My family’s solicitor.”

“What?” Jack asked.

“Why?” Ianto asked at the same time.

“Because the last time I set my affairs in order, I didn’t have a baby on the way. I need to make a few changes,” she explained.

Ianto looked at Elle and nodded; he knew enough of her family’s history to know that she would want all her bases covered in the event of an emergency.

Jack glared at Owen. “What aren’t you telling us?” he asked the doctor.

“What? Nothing! You know how she’s been with the wild hairs lately,” Owen said, giving Elle a significant look.

She ignored him. “So? Can I set up the meeting?”

“I fail to see how that would help you out; once you give him the Retcon, he’ll forget why he met you and what you wanted,” Jack argued.

“I could meet him up in the tourist office. Ianto can go with me and we can test out those fun new security features,” Elle countered.

“Can’t you do it by e-mail? Phone? Videoconference?” Jack asked.

“No.”

“That’s it? ‘No’?”

Elle folded her arms over her chest, having to adjust the movement slightly. Owen chuckled. “Shut up,” she growled at him. “I’m not used to these boobs yet.”

Jack snorted into his cup of coffee.

She glared at him. “Anyway. No; it has to be in person. So. Can I call him and set it up?”

“Has Tosh picked up any readings from our wormhole surfers recently?” Jack asked.

“Not that I know of. She and Tom are on breakfast duty; we can ask her when she comes back,” Ianto replied.

“Okay, then. This is tabled until Tosh and Tom come back in. Owen, a word?” Jack said, nodding toward his office.

“I’m going to go lie down until Tosh and Tom return,” Elle said. “Want to join me?” she asked Ianto, squeezing his arm.

“Yes, but then Jack would pout the rest of the day because he missed out. Better wait till later,” Ianto replied. He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, then followed Owen and Jack into Jack’s office. He quietly closed the door behind him and leaned back against it.

“What the hell, Owen?” Jack asked, barely managing to keep his tone under control.

“What? So she wants to see her solicitor. It’s actually a very smart idea, especially if she stays on with us. Torchwood operatives are not known for longevity,” Owen said. “Besides, it’ll keep her out of our hair for a few hours.”

“It probably won’t keep her calm, though,” Ianto observed.

“Try again, Dr. Harper,” Jack offered.

Owen sighed and sat down in the chair across from Jack’s desk. Jack settled into his own chair. Ianto stayed on his feet, but moved closer in case he wound up having to separate the two men.

“Remember how Elle was on strict bed rest for the first week after the attack?” Owen asked.

“Yes. You said it had put a strain on her heart and you wanted to give her the chance to rest up,” Jack replied.

“That was mostly true.”

“Mostly?” Ianto asked.

Owen turned his chair so he could see both men. “She’s better to the point that I don’t fear her heart giving out if she just walks across the room. But her body has taken a hell of a beating. I honestly don’t know if she’ll survive childbirth.”

“What! Why are we just hearing this now?!” Jack yelled, standing.

“Because she asked me to not tell you. She was afraid you’d do something like demand we deliver Pip by C-section. She wants the baby to have as much time as she needs,” Owen explained calmly.

“You could take the baby now, right? She’s developed enough,” Jack asked.

“I could. But I won’t; not unless it becomes important to save either of their lives.”

“Why not?”

“Because the more time Elle has to gain strength, the better her odds.”

“How much better?” Ianto asked.

“What?” Owen asked.

“You said her odds would be better, not that they would be good. What are her odds?” Ianto replied.

“If we take the baby now, Elle has about a 15% chance of survival,” Owen said, looking at his hands.

“And if we wait?” Jack asked, forcing the words through a suddenly tight throat.

“30%. Thirty-five at best,” Owen said.

Jack looked at Ianto. “You knew,” he accused.

“I knew she was anxious about something. I thought it was Torchwood Four taking another run at us,” Ianto replied.

“Will yelling at her for about an hour cause her too much stress?” Jack asked Owen.

“It might actually do her some good. She’s been waiting for the other shoe to drop,” Owen replied.

Jack took a deep breath, then let it out. “Okay. We’ll let Elle rest until Tosh and Tom come back. If Tosh says everything’s been all clear, Elle can call the solicitor. Owen, I want you and Martha to rig up something so we can keep track of her vitals during the meeting. If something spikes, she comes down immediately and we Retcon the poor sap she’s meeting with. Ianto, you are going to stay with her for the whole meeting. I don’t care if you have to cover your ears and sing so you don’t overhear anything confidential, you do not leave her alone.”

Ianto nodded and turned to leave.

Owen got up to follow him.

“And Owen?” Jack asked.

Owen paused and looked back at his captain.

“If you ever keep something like this from me again, you’ll find yourself working in a London A&E with a significant black hole in your memory. Understood?”

“Yes, Jack,” he replied, then left the office.  
****

Elle awoke slowly, a familiar voice calling softly to her.

“If you’re going to wake me up, you’d better be planning to climb in here with me,” she said, opening her eyes to look at Ianto.

“Perhaps later. Right now, I believe you have a phone call to make,” he replied.

She carefully pushed herself up onto her elbows. “Really? Jack gave the all clear?”

“Yep. He wants you to make the call, meet with this guy so you can relax. And then we’re going to take turns yelling at you,” Ianto said, cupping her cheek in his hand.

“Owen spilled,” Elle sighed.

“He did.” He put his arm around her shoulders and helped her sit up properly, then moved so sit beside her on the bed. “However, I have to think that you wanted him to spill, or you would have been more tactful in your request to see your solicitor.”

“It’s hard to think with my hormones raging and my libido doing the cha-cha,” she admitted grumpily.

“You haven’t been here long, so I’ll forgive you for not knowing that Jack is the only one allowed to use his libido as an excuse for bad behavior.”

“Figures.”

Ianto smiled and pressed a kiss to her hair. “You’ve been bottling this up, Elle. It’s not healthy for you or Rose to do that,” he said, his hand on her belly. He felt a sharp kick in response.

“She doesn’t like you being a know-it-all, either,” Elle said.

He laughed softly. “You can’t hold onto this stress and fear, Elle. You have to let it out. You have to let us help you or…” he couldn’t bring himself to finish.

“I know. I’ll do better, I promise.”

Ianto hugged her. “Good. Let’s get you upstairs. You can take your vitamins and have a snack. Then you can call your solicitor.”

She grinned up at him. “I can’t wait to see the look on his face.”

“You truly are an evil person.”  
****

“Craft, Mann and Kerr,” a cheerful voice answered the phone.

“I’d like to speak to Daniel Webber, please,” Elle said.

“I’ll connect you to his assistant. Please hold.”

“No, wait!” she said, then groaned as the muzak filled her ears. “Damn it,” she muttered.

Ianto smiled.

“Don’t you start,” she warned him.

“Mr. Webber’s office. This is Deidre.”

“Deidre, I need to speak to Daniel,” Elle replied.

“Mr. Webber has a rather busy schedule today. Can I take a message?”

“No, Deidre, you can’t. Put me on hold and tell Daniel that Elektra Atreides is on the line.”

“Oh. Of course, Miss Atreides. One moment,” Deidre said hurriedly, her tone all warmth and assistance now.

Elle bit back a snicker.

Ianto looked at her and rolled his eyes. He was listening in on an extension. “You spend so much time not acknowledging your family, but you do like the clout.”

“Comes in handy sometimes,” she admitted.

“Good morning, Elektra. To what do I owe the pleasure?” asked a deep voice on the other end of the line.

“Daniel. I need to see you as soon as possible. I need to make a few adjustments to my will.”

“Indeed.”

Elle sighed into the silence. “O fόbos eίnai o dolofόnos myaloύ,” she replied.

“Of course, Elektra. When and where can I meet you?” he asked, his tone losing some of its stiffness.

“Cardiff tourist office. Two hours. I’ll be waiting. It’ll be nice to see you again, Daniel.”

“I shall see you soon,” he said, then rang off.

“What exactly was that you said to him?” Ianto asked as Elle hung up her own phone.

“It’s a kind of passcode to prove I’m really who I say I am,” she replied.

“Sounded like Greek,” Tosh said from her chair.

“That’s because it is like Greek,” Elle replied. She smiled at Ianto’s raised eyebrow. “And no, I’m not translating.”

Tosh laughed and turned back to her work.

“Everything set up?” Jack asked as he joined them.

“Yes. Mr. Webber will be joining us in the tourist office in two hours,” Ianto replied.

“He’s in a London firm?” Jack asked.

“Yes,” Elle replied.

“You can’t make it here from London in two hours this time of day,” Ianto said.

“Oh, he’ll make it,” Elle replied.  
****

Two hours later, Elle and Ianto were sitting in the tourist office playing poker. She had failed at talking Ianto into strip poker, so they were playing for nappy changing stakes. An alarm beeped and Ianto turned to look at his terminal. 

“Mr. Webber is here,” Ianto said moments before the door opened.

A tall, pale man with classically handsome features and silver hair entered the tourist office. He smiled when he saw Elle.

“Elektra,” he said.

Elle moved around the desk and gave him a hug. “It’s good to see you, Daniel.”

“Now I see why you want to make changes to your will. When are you due?”

“Two weeks, give or take. This is Ianto Jones,” she said, turning to Ianto.

“Mr. Webber,” Ianto said, shaking the older man’s hand.

“Mr. Jones.” He turned back to Elle. “Is there somewhere we can talk?”

“Ianto’s office,” she said, nodding to the beaded curtain.

“That’s not exactly private,” Webber responded.

“Ianto doesn’t speak Greek,” she said. She could almost feel Ianto choking back a smirk behind her. The lie was true enough; Ianto didn’t speak the ancient dialect her family and their retainers spoke for private conversations.

“Very well, then. After you.”

Elle walked into the small office, Webber close behind her. She settled into Ianto’s chair, leaving Webber to sit on a folding chair. Ianto quite obviously made himself busy with some paperwork at the desk out in the office.

“The father?” Webber asked in Greek.

“He’ll be her legal guardian if anything happens to me,” she replied in kind.

Webber opened his briefcase and took out a laptop. “All right, Elle. Let’s get this done as quickly as we can.”  
****

“How’s it going, Ianto?” Jack whispered.

Ianto tapped his comm to reply. “You realize you don’t have to whisper. They can’t hear you,” Ianto said softly, moving to the door of the tourist office.

“Right. How’s it going?” Jack repeated in a normal tone of voice.

“They seem to be doing just fine. Elle’s even laughed a couple of times.”

“And Webber?”

“I’m not sure he knows how to laugh. He seems efficient, though.”

Jack laughed sharply. “He ought to be, for what that firm charges.”

“Indeed.”

“Do you know what they’re saying?”

“I catch a word here and there.”

“So, what are they saying?” Jack prompted.

“Later. He’s coming out,” Ianto said, then keyed off his comm. He turned and smiled at Webber as he came through the beaded curtain. “All done, then?”

“I’ll return tomorrow with a notary and hard copies. I presume you will be Elektra’s witness?” Webber replied.

“Of course.” Ianto handed him a card. “Please call me and let me know what time we should expect you.”

Webber nodded and left the tourist office. Ianto locked the door behind him. He turned to see Elle rubbing her back as she exited his office.

“Are you feeling all right?” Ianto asked, moving over to her.

“I sat in the same position too long. And I’m starving. Let’s go get some dinner,” she replied.

Ianto opened the door into the Hub and followed her downstairs.


	71. Arrivals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which talk of wills leads to intimacy for Jack and Ianto; and Rose Harkness-Jones enters the world.

**71—Arrivals**  
“So, what _did_ they talk about?” Jack asked softly, his warm breath tickling Ianto’s neck.

Ianto sighed and rolled over to face Jack. After he and Elle had returned to the Hub, the team—save Elle and Tom—had had to go out and deal with a roving band of Weevils. It had been well after midnight once Tom and Martha had examined everyone’s (mostly minor) injuries and Jack had sent the team home. Ianto had barely had enough energy to check on Elle and slip out of his suit before he fell into bed. Jack had joined him minutes later, curling around his lover, being careful of Ianto’s injuries.

“Mostly money and what should be done with it. And custody issues,” he said softly.

“Custody?”

“When Elle dies, custody of her daughter goes to Jack Harkness and Ianto Jones. We’re her legal guardians.”

“I hate thinking about this,” Jack said.

“So do I. So does Elle, but she’s a pragmatist. She knows what her chances are and she knows that, if she survives, Torchwood is not the safest job in the world. It’s the right thing to do. You want our daughter to grow up here with us, right?”

“I still hate it.”

“I know,” Ianto said, then leaned forward to kiss him.

Jack returned the kiss, his hand moving up to cup the back of Ianto’s head, his fingers threading through the soft curls. He tilted his head, gently parting Ianto’s lips with his own before sliding his tongue into Ianto’s mouth. 

Ianto moaned quietly into the kiss, his hands moving to hold Jack’s face. He whimpered as Jack broke the kiss, pulling back with a series of soft kisses.

“I need you, Ianto,” Jack whispered, rubbing his nose against Ianto’s.

“I’m here,” Ianto replied, trailing kisses along Jack’s cheekbone.

“Please, Ianto,” Jack said, his fingers digging into Ianto’s shoulders.

“I’m here,” Ianto repeated, softly biting at Jack’s earlobe.

“I need you in me, Ianto. I need you against me. I need to _feel_ you.”

Ianto lifted his head to look Jack in the eye. “I’m not going anywhere,” he said fiercely.

“Prove it.”

Ianto crushed his mouth to Jack’s, biting at his lips until they parted with a moan, allowing Ianto to thrust his tongue into Jack’s willing mouth. Jack groaned and rolled onto his back, pulling Ianto with him. Ianto settled between Jack’s legs and supported himself on his hands, his hips sliding against Jack’s.

“Yesss,” Jack hissed as Ianto’s cock brushed against his.

Ianto dipped his head to take Jack’s mouth again, drawing the kiss out into a slow, sensuous caress when Jack tried to turn it hungry and desperate. Jack’s fists balled into the sheets in frustration. He growled into Ianto’s mouth, earning him a quick nip to his lower lip before Ianto drew it into his mouth. Jack sighed in contentment, finally allowing Ianto to take him at his own pace.

Ianto broke the kiss, smiling down at Jack. Jack smiled back, then moaned as Ianto pressed his body down against his. Ianto reached up with his hand to ghost his fingers against Jack’s swollen lips. Jack sighed and opened his mouth, sucking two of Ianto’s fingers into his mouth.

“Gods, Jack,” Ianto said, his voice husky. Jack stared into Ianto’s eyes, his own dark with lust as he sucked on Ianto’s fingers. He held Ianto’s wrist in his hand as he ran his tongue down and around Ianto’s elegant fingers. With a grunt, Ianto pulled his fingers free, replacing them with his mouth. His tongue tangled with Jack’s as he slid his hand between Jack’s legs to tease at his entrance. Jack sucked hard on the tip of Ianto’s tongue as he pressed against his lover’s fingers, silently begging him to breach him.

Ianto complied, sliding one spit-slicked finger into Jack’s body. Jack spread his legs wider and tilted his hips, opening himself to Ianto.

“Now, Ianto. Take me now. Please,” Jack panted.

“Not yet,” Ianto whispered, nibbling at Jack’s neck.

“Yes, now!” Jack demanded, wrapping his legs around Ianto’s waist and pressing his heels against Ianto’s buttocks. “I want to feel it. Need to feel it,” he panted.

Ianto paused. They had been rough with each other in the past, when their mood or kink demanded it. But he wasn’t sure that was the best way to assuage Jack’s fears at the moment.

Jack’s hands slid up to cup Ianto’s face. “Please,” he said.

Ianto nodded and turned his head to lick Jack’s palm. Jack grinned and slid his hand down to caress Ianto’s cock, coating it with a thin layer of spit and precum. Jack withdrew his hand and slid it around to clutch Ianto’s hip.

Ianto pushed slowly into Jack, watching as his lover pressed his head back into the pillow, gasping. He leaned down and bit Jack’s neck, sucking hard enough to leave a mark as he slid forward until his hips were pressed tightly against Jack’s ass.

“Yes, Ianto. Yes, yes, yes,” Jack said, his blunt nails digging into the flesh at Ianto’s hips. Ianto gasped at the sharp pain, knowing he would have bruises for days. Ianto rocked his hips against Jack, making shallow thrusts until Jack lifted his head from the pillow and took Ianto’s mouth in a bruising kiss.

Ianto shifted and pushed himself up onto his hands and began to pound into Jack with long, hard thrusts. Jack wrapped one hand around the back of Ianto’s neck to pull his face down to his. He reached his other hand up to brace against the wall, rocking into Ianto’s thrusts. His fingers threaded into Ianto’s hair and pulled sharply as Jack began to come. Ianto swallowed Jack’s shout with a desperate kiss as he continued thrusting into his shuddering lover.

Jack wrapped his arm around Ianto’s waist and rolled them over. He pressed Ianto into the mattress, then sat up. He began to ride Ianto hard, watching the young man pant and moan beneath him, his hands clutching at Jack’s hips.

“Come for me, Ianto,” Jack said. “I need you to come. Please, Ianto.”

Jack rolled his hips as he pushed down onto Ianto, causing the younger man to arch his back as he came. Ianto put his own wrist into his mouth, biting down so his scream wouldn’t carry past Jack’s room. Jack sat still, watching Ianto’s orgasm wash through him. He waited until Ianto stopped shaking to gently pull Ianto’s arm toward him. He gently kissed and licked the marks left by Ianto’s teeth. He slid off Ianto and went to get a damp cloth from his bathroom. He came back and began to gently clean Ianto.

“I didn’t mean for you to hurt yourself, love,” Jack said softly, trailing his fingers around Ianto’s wrist.

Ianto smiled and waited for Jack to clean himself up and climb back into bed. “Hmm, next time _you_ can sink your teeth into me.”

Jack laid half on top of Ianto and nuzzled into the younger man’s neck. “Promises, promises.”  
****

Jack watched as Ianto made the morning’s first batch of coffee. He smiled as he watched Ianto rub his wrist, his thumb caressing the bruises. Jack reached his own hand up to brush over the love bite Ianto had left on his neck.

“Coffee,” Elle said from the entry to the kitchenette.

Jack turned his head, a snarky reply dying on his lips as he took in her appearance. She had dark circles under her eyes, her hair was disheveled and she had the beginnings of a snarl on her lips.

“And, uh,” Jack cleared his throat. “And how did you sleep?”

Ianto kicked Jack in the shin, reaching past him to hand a cup of coffee to Elle.

She took a sip, glaring at the two of them over the cup. “It’s piss-poor manners to be that fucking loud during sex when you have a horny pregnant woman just down the hall!” she said angrily.

Ianto winced and Jack looked genuinely abashed.

“Elle, we—” Jack began, reaching out.

“Don’t touch me. I’m pissed off enough I might throw this coffee in your face. I’ll be down in Archives. Let me know when Tom gets in for my daily check-up.”

“Hold it,” Jack called out to her as she started to walk away.

She turned to face him. “Yes?” she replied, her tone deadly.

“You do not get to come in here and be bitchy and call us out on our sex life just so you can avoid getting yelled at,” he said.

Ianto took a deep breath and stepped up beside Jack. He knew they had to make a united front if they wanted all this secret-keeping and distraction to stop. Still, if Elle turned violent, he was throwing Jack in her path and bolting. Although neither one of them would strike back at Elle, Jack would recover from the injuries more quickly than Ianto would.

“You think so?” she challenged.

“I know so. What the hell were you thinking? That we would be okay with not knowing that you were dying? That it would be easier if you just died after giving birth without us knowing that was a distinct possibility? Have you not yet learned that you are family and you are in this for the long haul? There is no easy way out!” Jack fairly shouted.

“Easy?! You think this is easy?” she yelled back.

“No! And it wouldn’t be so fucking hard either if you would just let us help!”

“What are you going to do, Jack? Carry the baby to term for me?”

“No! I’m going to talk some sense into you! I’m going to yell at you until you see that we’re in this together. And by gods, you’re going to believe you have a future past the next two weeks,” he replied fiercely.

She stepped up until they were standing as close as they could be with Elle’s stomach between them. “ _That’s_ your big plan? You’re going to yell at me?”

“Yes!”

“Really?”

“Yes!”

Elle glared at him, then snorted. She caught the shocked look on Ianto’s face and snorted again. Then she began laughing. After a few moments, she leaned against the counter, chortling.

Jack waited for her to regain her composure and wipe her eyes before speaking again. “Feel better?”

“ _So_ much,” she said, nodding.

Jack pulled her into a hug. “Good. Because if you ever do anything like this again, I will lock you in a cell with Janet and let her knock some sense into you. Clear?”

She nodded against his chest. “I’m sorry.”

Jack lifted her head with a finger beneath her chin. “Me, too. For letting you get away with it for so long. No more.”

“No more.” She turned and gave Ianto a hug. “I’m so sorry for putting you through this,” she said.

He kissed the top of her head. “Forgiven. Always.”

She stepped back and looked at them smiling. “But you guys really do need to keep it down. It’s really…distracting.”

Jack grinned while Ianto blushed.

“You’re feeling okay? No crazy blood pressure spiking or anything?” Jack asked Elle, looking concerned.

“I’m fine, Jack. I’m not going to drop to the ground and give birth right here. Although, it would be rather fitting if she entered the world below the coffeemaker.”

Ianto snorted.

“I’ll just be down in Archives waiting for Tom,” she said, then left them alone.

Jack and Ianto looked at each other.

“Well, I guess we’ll just have to be more careful for the next two weeks,” Jack said.

Ianto snorted. “ _You_ are incapable of having sex silently.”

“That sounds suspiciously like a dare.”

“Just an observation, Jack. Besides, remember how she could smell the pheromones in the nursery after we christened it?”

“Oh yeah,” Jack said, his eyes glazing over for a minute. “Wait, you’re not suggesting we go without sex until the baby’s born?” Jack asked, horrified.

“I’m suggesting we keep it to your room and bathroom for the time being. She’s two weeks away from the due date; let’s try not to provoke her mood again,” Ianto replied, then placed a soft kiss on Jack’s lips.

“I was never this cranky when I was pregnant. And I _glowed_.”

“Yes, I’m sure telling Elle you were much hotter when pregnant will make her feel better. Stay out of the Archives today, yeah?”

Jack’s eyes widened. “Hey, I wasn’t alone in that bed last night. Or the nursery.”

“I know. But it’s probably better if we only single team her. Your pheromones get a little thick when you’re around both of us.”

“Do they?” Jack asked innocently.

“Lust and protection, Jack. Quite the combination.”

Jack preened.

Ianto sighed and handed Jack his coffee. “Let the others know where Elle and I are when they come in.”

“Okay.”

“And you have a call with UNIT in two hours. Try to keep your temper; they’re doing us a favor letting us have Martha for so long.” 

“Not to mention the safe house’s guests,” Jack muttered into his coffee.

“Wasn’t going to,” Ianto said over his shoulder on his way to the Archives.  
****

“Well? How are we doing?” Elle asked as Tom reviewed her daily test results.

“Your blood pressure is within acceptable limits and your heart sounds good,” Tom replied, hooking his stethoscope back around his neck.

“However, you look awful,” Martha said.

Tom looked at her, shocked.

Martha rolled her eyes. “Like she hadn’t noticed. Fess up, Elle. What’s going on?”

“She was just really active last night. That plus the in-house porno going on down the hall made sleep difficult.”

“And she’s dropped,” Tom added.

“What?” Elle said, looking at her stomach. “Really?”

“Really.”

“I thought she might have, but then I thought I was just imagining things,” she said, smiling.

“You realize this means Owen’s moving up in the betting pool,” Martha said.

“I am not above crossing my legs until after midnight,” Elle grumbled.

“I heard that,” Owen said, coming into the medical bay. 

“Everyone else has offered to cut me in on the winnings,” she replied, shrugging.

“Well excuse me if I like to keep things honest!” Owen retorted. “Unlike _some_.”

“Tosh doing actual research and keeping an eye on Elle’s movements is not cheating,” Martha admonished.

“Tosh has been watching me?” Elle asked.

“Don’t take it personally. Tosh watches everyone,” Owen said.

“Sometimes she makes DVDs. And if you’re very lucky, she’ll make you copies,” Jack said from the doorway.

“She’s dropped!” Elle said excitedly.

“That’s good!” Jack said.

“Yep. Any day now, we’ll have the pitter-patter of little feet,” Tom said.

“Well, pitter-patter without high heels at any rate,” Owen said.  
****

“She dropped!” Elle said as she joined Ianto in the Archives.

“So I heard. I guess that means Owen’s going to win the pool,” Ianto replied, hugging her.

“Not if I have anything to say about it.”

Ianto laughed. “All right. Documents or shiny things today?”

“Documents. I’ve had enough excitement for one day,” she replied, settling onto her settee.

“All right. Mission reports from 1913-1915 or unclassified aliens?”

“Unclassified aliens.”

Ianto smiled and handed her a stack of files.

Two hours minutes later, Ianto’s mobile rang. Daniel Webber was ready to see them.  
****

Elle and Ianto were waiting in the tourist office for Webber. Jack had insisted upon joining them this time, a decision which amused and disgruntled Elle.

“He can’t actually do the automatic translation thing when he’s not near the TARDIS,” Ianto said to her.

She glared at him and said something unflattering about his parentage in Welsh.

“That didn’t sound very nice,” Jack said.

“It wasn’t,” Ianto confirmed.

Jack looked at Elle.

She rolled her eyes. “If you’re _very_ good, I’ll teach it to you later.”

“For the record, I’m the one who’s been the most good most recently,” Jack said.

“And just how do you figure that?” Ianto asked. He was used to being the good one.

“She kept a secret and you didn’t tell me you knew something was going on with her,” Jack explained.

“Think we should double-team him with a strip tease?” Elle asked Ianto.

The bell over the tourist office door rang and saved Ianto from answering.

“Good afternoon, Elektra. Am I interrupting something?” Webber asked as he entered the office, accompanied by a young man in a suit.

“No. But you were so close. Captain Jack Harkness,” Jack said, extending his hand.

“Daniel Webber. I’m Elektra’s attorney,” he replied, shaking it. “This is Mr. Whitford. He’s a notary from the firm.”

“Great. Let’s get this thing started so Daniel and Mr. Whitford can get back to London,” Elle said.

Webber nodded and set his briefcase on the desk. Jack held his breath for a second, a moment of panic coming over him as he waited for the briefcase to open. Ianto had assured him that Webber was who he said he was and that he was no danger to Elle or the baby, but Jack had had too many close calls lately. 

Webber opened his briefcase and Jack breathed more normally once nothing happened. He pointedly ignored Ianto’s raised eyebrow.

“Here is the revised will. Look it over, make sure I haven’t missed anything,” Webber said, handing two copies of the document over to Elle. “I thought you’d want a copy for yourself.

Elle leaned against the desk and read through the document. She held her hand out to Ianto, who handed her a pen. She signed both copies of the will and stepped to the side so Ianto could sign as a witness.

Minutes later, both Webber and Mr. Whitford’s duties fulfilled, both men left. Jack looked a little shell-shocked.

“You okay, Jack?” Elle asked.

“That was really fast.”

“You should be glad; I charged his work to the Torchwood account.”

“You didn’t.”

“I didn’t. But it was really worth the look on your face,” she replied, grinning.

“Don’t you have archives to work on?”

Elle chuckled and pressed the button to open the door down into the Hub.  
****

“So, where do you think she hid it?” Jack asked Ianto as he joined him in the coffee room. Once they had expanded the kitchen, Ianto’s coffee machine had been given its own room. Owen had complained loudly, insisting there would be more shagging than coffee-making going on inside. Tosh had brokered a compromise by leaving a door off the room.

Ianto looked up from the tray of coffees he was fixing. Tosh and Owen had “left” for the evening—behaving as though Ianto didn’t know they were going to the same home for the night—leaving Martha, Tom, Jack and Ianto alone in the Hub with Elle. 

“Who hid what?” Ianto asked, his thoughts going immediately to his garlic press. Martha had banished Ianto from the newly-expanded kitchen after he kept trying to help her cook. Tom had laughed and told Ianto that Martha had learned to defend her kitchen from Francine; there was no way the man was going to win, so he should just give up.

“Elle. Her copy of the will. Where do you think she hid it?” Jack replied.

“It’s in your safe.”

“What?”

Ianto smiled. Elle owed him 20 quid—he _knew_ his own safe was the only place Jack wouldn’t think to look. “She wanted her copy kept in a safe place in case the one at Webber’s office suddenly went missing or was inadvertently destroyed.”

“Why would her own attorney do that?”

“Family politics, Jack. Webber is the attorney for several members of the Atreides family.”

“So?”

Ianto rolled his eyes. “Have Tosh give you her research.”

“Tosh did research on Elle?”

Ianto Looked at him.

“Of course she did. My beautiful Toshiko. Have her leave it on my desk for me.” Where Gwen had shouted and prodded, Tosh had quietly done her research and made her decisions. It was why Jack was promoting her to the position of his Second as soon as he got a moment to breathe.

Ianto smiled. “Hard copy, I presume.”

“You know me so well,” Jack said, then gave Ianto a quick kiss.

“Uh, guys?” Elle said from the doorway.

“Of course you can join us, Elle,” Jack said against Ianto’s lips. He felt his lover smile.

“That’s all well and good, but I think Rose wants to join us for dinner. Tonight.”

Jack and Ianto sprang apart and turned to look at Elle. She was standing in the doorway, one hand clutching the doorframe as the other rested on her stomach.

“Tonight?” Jack repeated.

Elle nodded and bit her lip. “The contractions are about ten minutes apart and my water just broke in the archives. Sorry,” she said, looking at Ianto.

Jack and Ianto continued to stare at her.

“The, uh, medical bay, maybe?” she said.

The men sprang into action, Jack sweeping Elle up in his arms as Ianto keyed his comm and shouted for Martha and Tom.  
****

“Just keep—mmph!”

Elle clapped her hand over Jack’s mouth. “If you tell me to keep breathing one more time, I will rip them off,” she panted.

Owen snorted.

“Who let him have the video camera?” she asked breathlessly, seeing the item in Owen’s hand.

“He arm-wrestled it from Tosh. It was oddly hot to see,” Tom replied.

Martha shot her fiancé a look. “We’ve been here too long.”

Elle grabbed Martha’s hand. “If he tries to get footage of the actual birth, you have my permission to shoot him.”

“Hey! I’m still the boss here. She has to have my permission,” Jack protested.

“Actually, technically speaking, Elle is the ranking member of Torchwood One, so…” Ianto trailed off.

Elle gasped and grabbed hold of Jack’s hand. 

Jack winced. “There’s our girl. Come on, you’re almost done,” he said, one eye on the fetal monitor. After ten hours, he had learned how to recognize certain patterns. He studiously ignored the monitors showing Elle’s vitals; he knew she was getting weaker by the hour. Martha was keeping an eye on them and the oxygen was handy if they needed it.

A few more knuckle-crushing seconds later, the contraction finally passed. Jack shook his fingers out after Elle let go.

“Wuss,” Owen smirked.

“She could kill you six ways with just her pinkie. You want to take the next hand holding shift?” Ianto asked him.

“I am not holding Owen’s hand as my child comes into the world,” Elle said.

“Okay. Time to take another look,” Tom said.

“You. Either get up near my head or get out of the room,” Elle said to Owen.

Owen laughed and joined Ianto and Jack up at the head of the bed.

“Where’s Tosh?” Martha asked.

“She said something about getting some last-minute supplies set up,” Ianto replied.

“We should have made this room bigger,” Elle muttered.

“We can clear it,” Jack said.

“No. Sorry. Just feeling warm and close and—again!” she said, grabbing Jack’s hand.

“Okay,” Tom said after the contraction had passed. “We push on the next one.”

“Finally,” Owen muttered.

Elle growled at him.

“You can shoot him later,” Ianto promised.

“Did I miss it?” Tosh asked, breathless, as she ran into the room.

“Right on time,” Owen said, holding his hand out to her.

“Okay, here it comes. Push!”

Elle squeezed Jack and Ianto’s hands as she pushed.

“Come on, Elle, bear down,” Tom said.

Elle gasped and fell back onto the bed as the contraction passed.

Everyone else held their breaths until an indignant wail sounded.

“Okay, Elle. Hard part’s over. I just need one more push,” Tom said soothingly.

Elle rolled her head on the pillow. “Need…a…minute,” she panted.

Martha looked from the monitors to Jack, her expression clear. _We don’t have a minute._

Jack and Ianto exchanged a look over Elle’s head.

“Come on, Elle. Like Tom said, bear down,” Jack encouraged.

Ianto helped lift Elle upright. “You can do this,” he whispered.

She nodded. “Okay,” she said.

She screamed as she pushed one final time. Jack yelled sharply as she clamped down hard on his hand.

“There she is,” Tom said as he guided Rose into the world. He looked up at Ianto. “Would you like to do the honors?”

Elle smiled at Ianto, then rested back against the bed. Ianto let go of her hand and moved down to cut the cord. 

“Tom,” Martha said sharply.

Tom nodded and moved out of the way with the baby as Elle’s heart monitor began to wail.

Martha and Owen sprang into action, dropping the bed flat as they began to work.

Tosh pulled Jack out of the way as Ianto kept looking between Rose and Elle.

“Starting compressions,” Owen said as Elle flatlined. “Get me the epi,” he said to Martha.

“Come on, Elle,” Jack whispered.

“No rhythm,” Martha said as Owen blew in a breath.

Jack watched and suddenly moved forward, pushing Owen away from Elle’s head.

“Jack, what the fuck?” Owen shouted.

Jack took a second to look down at Elle before closing his mouth over hers.

_Please_ , Jack thought, then pushed.

The others watched in shock as Elle’s skin took on a faint glow.

“Rhythm,” Martha said as the heart monitor began beeping slowly but steadily.

Jack stepped back and let the doctors go to work. Elle opened her eyes as Owen put the oxygen mask over her nose and mouth.

“Pulling dramatics will not get you out of paying out the pool,” Owen said.

She smiled crookedly behind the mask, then turned her head to look at Jack.

“Tom?” Jack asked.

“Ten fingers, ten toes, perfect scores,” Tom replied.

“You did good, kiddo,” Jack said softly, taking Elle’s hand. He looked over at Martha.

“Okay. If you’re not a daddy or the man cleaning and swaddling Rose, get out,” Martha said. She smiled to soften the words. 

Owen and Tosh smiled at Elle and the proud daddies, then followed Martha out of the room.

Tom finished cleaning Rose, then wrapped her in a soft red blanket. He handed her to Ianto. “I’ll give you guys some time. Martha has the equipment forwarded to Tosh’s computer,” he said.

Jack adjusted the bed so Elle was in a sitting position again. She took the mask off.

“Hey now,” he said.

She waved him off. “Look at the monitors. Good as new,” she said, her voice still raspy.

Jack kissed her on the forehead. “Okay, mommy.”

Ianto walked over and sat down on the bed beside Elle. Jack drew up the stool to sit on her other side.

“My big brave men,” Elle said softly, looking back and forth between them. “Well, except maybe you, Jack. You screamed like a girl when I squeezed your hand.”

“You broke three of my fingers.”

Ianto chuckled softly.

“Baby,” she replied quietly.

“First you call me coward and now a baby?” Jack asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I want to hold our baby,” she clarified.

Ianto settled her in Elle’s arms.

“Just my luck. She’s got your chin and Ianto’s nose. I’m not sure I’m there at all,” she said, stroking her finger down the baby’s cheek.

“She does not have my chin,” Jack protested.

“That is definitely the shadow of a cleft,” Elle replied.

“She has your eyes,” Ianto said.

“The color may change,” she said.

“They’re the same shape as yours. Regardless of color, they’re your eyes,” Ianto replied.

“Your daddies are charmers, kiddo,” Elle whispered to her daughter.

The baby gurgled.

Owen appeared in the doorway. “Not too much longer, guys. Mommy and baby need sleep and one of the daddies needs his fingers seen to,” he said smirking at Jack.

Elle chuckled.

“You do realize he was hovering just outside the door,” Jack said.

Ianto smiled. “And I’m never letting him live it down.”

“Are you sure about the name?” Jack said Elle.

“We decided. It’s perfect,” she said firmly.

“But, your name—” Ianto began.

“It would be too much of a mouthful. And, technically, Jones is my name,” she said, nuzzling the baby’s cheek.

Jack nodded, then leaned forward to look down at the baby.

“Welcome to the world, Faith Rose Harkness-Jones.”


	72. Infiltration

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Torchwood Four comes to take back what is theirs.

**72—Infiltration**   
_She dropped the second guard quickly, lowering his body to the ground in an effort to mask her activities. She quickly removed his weapon and spare ammunition. She didn’t take the time to check if he would be able to follow her, but spared a quick hope for the best. She looked around the edge of the building; by her calculations, she had about ten minutes until the guard’s partner was to pass him on the security detail. That left her just enough time to make it into the woods._

_As long as no one noticed her disappearance too quickly._  
****

The soft snuffling noise woke Elle. She sat up quickly, then regretted the move as her muscles protested. In the week since Rose’s birth, she had been working to get back to her “fighting form”. She had to admit now that maybe she was overdoing it.

“Shh. It’s okay,” Jack said. “Bad dream?”

Elle turned to see Jack sitting in the nursery’s rocking chair, holding Rose. The light from the small giraffe-shaped lamp on the table cast his face in soft light as he smiled down at their daughter. 

“Yeah,” she replied. 

Rose snuffled and moved her head away from the bottle in Jack’s hand.

“She knows I’m awake. She wants the real thing,” Elle said, carefully getting off the cot.

Jack vacated the rocking chair and waited until Elle was settled to place Rose in her arms.

“Did she wake you or were you up?” Elle asked as she put Rose to nurse.

Jack sat on the cot, watching quietly. “Actually, you woke me.”

She raised an eyebrow, staring at him.

“I heard you through the monitor. I was coming in to check on you when I heard Rose start to wake. I grabbed a bottle, hoping I could get her resettled before she woke you.”

Elle nodded and turned her attention back to Rose. “Ianto still asleep, then?”

“He was a bit worn out after that last alien run.”

“Is it wrong that I’m excited about being able to go back into the field soon?”

“Is that what the bad dreams are about? Something happening when you’re away from her?” Jack asked.

“No,” she replied softly, sliding a finger down Rose’s cheek.

Jack waited, watching as Elle finished feeding Rose and shifted the baby to burp her. Elle smiled as she patted her daughter’s back.

“The silent, patient thing doesn’t really work for you,” she said.

“And yet, you’re talking.”

“You sound like Ianto.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment. So, what are the bad dreams about?”

“She’s finally here,” she said softly.

Jack rose to stand beside her. “She is.”

“It’s so much easier for them to come for her now. They don’t have to worry about causing early labor and not being able to save her. They don’t have to worry about intricate traps to make you hand us over. They can just come for her.”

Jack put his arm around her shoulders. “They can come. They won’t get her,” he said fiercely.

Rose continued to fuss, not wanting to go to sleep. Elle shifted her and began singing the lullaby.

“What’s it mean?” Jack asked.

“She is eternal; no malice can touch,” Elle said softly.

“What else?”

“That’s the important part.”

“You need to teach that to Ianto and me,” he said as Rose finally drifted off to sleep.

She smiled at him. “Can you sing, Jack?”

“I’ve been known to belt out a tune or two in the shower,” he replied.

She snorted. “I’ve heard the sounds you make in the shower, Jack. They are distinctly atonal.”

“That’s Ianto’s fault. Man can’t harmonize to save his life,” Jack said, smiling.

Elle chuckled as she settled Rose in her crib. “She’s so small.”

“She’s everything,” Jack said, putting his arm around Elle and staring down at the baby.  
****

“I’m telling you, it’s nothing,” Owen protested.

“You’re wrong. There’s something off. It’s like an itch I’ve got,” Ianto replied. They were coming back from an early morning pastry run.

“Sorry, mate. I don’t take care of itches. That’s strictly Jack’s territory.”

“Unless, of course, they’re Tosh’s itches, right?”

Owen spit his coffee out. “What?”

Ianto rolled his eyes. “You didn’t honestly think that none of us had noticed, did you?”

“I—the thing is—you see…we haven’t…”

Ianto, feeling magnanimous, clapped the other man on the shoulder. “As your friend, I am very happy for you. I’m glad you’ve opened yourself up to some real happiness. As Tosh’s _best_ friend, I will gleefully unman you if you hurt her.”

“Well, that’s…Thank you, Ianto,” Owen finally managed, looking the younger man in the eye.

“You’re welcome.”

“I still think you’re being paranoid, though.”

Ianto shrugged. “I’ve always believed first instincts are best instincts.”

“Have Tosh run some scans. If she can’t find it, it doesn’t exist.”

Ianto nodded.  
****

“Well?” Elle asked Ianto, cornering him in archives.

“You’re right.”

“I _knew_ it. It just didn’t feel right when I went out with Jack on the dinner run last night. We’re being watched.”

“I’ve asked Tosh to take a look at the CCTV. If she can’t find it—”

“You and I should take a look at it,” Elle interrupted.

Ianto looked at her, both eyebrows raised.

“It’s not that I doubt Tosh’s talent. But she hasn’t been trained the way you and I have. She has a more digitally sneaky skill set, while ours is more combat-based,” Elle explained.

“All right. We’ll have her save all the footage so you, Jack and I can look at it.”  
****

“There it is,” Jack said, pointing at the screen.

“Curtain twitch,” Elle said, nodding.

“What were they watching?” Ianto asked, leaning closer.

“Um, us?” Owen said.

“We weren’t out on the Plass at the time. They had to have been watching something else,” Ianto said, clicking between CCTV shots. “There,” he said, tapping the screen with his finger.

“I don’t see anything,” Tosh said from her place behind Ianto. She had Rose cuddled in her arms. 

“I wouldn’t have, either, if I hadn’t known where to look,” Ianto replied.

Jack cast a glance at Elle; they both knew that was a lie. Ianto would have seen it without the curtain twitch, although it would have taken him a little longer.

“Tosh, I want you to go through CCTV footage for the past two months. I want to know when new people moved into that building,” Jack said.

Tosh frowned slightly, knowing this meant her turn holding the baby was up. She handed Rose over to Elle, then took the seat Ianto had been using. She began typing furiously, then glared at the screen.

“What is it, Tosh?” Ianto asked.

“The back of this building has no CCTV coverage,” she replied.

“That’s convenient,” Jack said darkly.

“I vote we gas the place and pick off the unconscious,” Elle said.

“I vote we set Janet and her mates loose on the place,” Owen replied.

“I like his plan better,” Elle admitted.

“We’re waiting,” Jack said. “Tosh, run through the CCTV we have of that building and the one with the twitching curtain. Owen, you have an autopsy to complete. Ianto, I need you to pull the mission reports from that Wedauni attack we had two years ago. UNIT thinks they found a nest in northern Scotland and they want some pointers. Elle, I need—”

He was cut off by the Rift alarm.

“And I needed that not to happen,” Jack sighed.

“What have we got, Tosh?” Ianto asked.

Tosh quickly switched screens. “Large signal and moving. Down near the docks.” She pressed a few keys. “There. Five moving targets. They look like Drasdins.”

Jack swore. 

“Aren’t those the things with the mouths?” Elle asked.

“Don’t most things have mouths?” Owen replied.

“These have two mouths on their heads and one in each palm,” Jack said.

“Fuck me,” Owen breathed.

“You’d really not enjoy that,” Ianto said.

“That’s enough. All right. Tosh, I want you to stay here and keep that CCTV surveillance going. Owen, get your kit and make sure we have plenty of bandages and suture kits. Ianto, hit the armory and get all the weapons you think we’ll need. Elle, you get to be our eyes and ears in the field.

The team sprang into action, eager to get the threat contained and come back to take care of whomever was watching them.  
****

“If I point out that this has all the hallmarks of a trap, am I going to get my head bitten off?” Owen asked from the passenger’s seat.

“I was actually wondering who was going to say it first,” Ianto replied from the backseat. 

“Of course, if Owen says it, you all miss out on my ‘I told you so’ dance,” Jack said.

Ianto leaned up between the seats to put his hand on Owen’s shoulder. “Thank you,” he said sincerely.

“Hey!” Jack said.

“As entertaining as this is, gentlemen, you are closing in on the aliens’ location,” Elle said, cutting through the chatter.

“Are they still in a group?” Jack asked.

“No. They’re in two groups—one of two and one of three. I’m sending you the feed now,” she replied.

“Owen, you and Ianto take the group of two. I’ll take the other three,” Jack said.

“Jack, common sense would dictate that Owen and I take the group of three,” Ianto said.

“You do realize you’re speaking to Jack?” Owen questioned.

Ianto rolled his eyes at him. “Well?”

“I’ll take the pack of three,” Jack said firmly.

“If they take you out, that leaves Ianto and I on our own with our two plus your guys until you manage to revive,” Owen said.

“He does make a good point,” Ianto added.

“Who’s the leader here?” Jack asked.

“Right, you take the three, we’ll take our two and then come save your sorry arse,” Owen said as Jack stopped the SUV.

“Now that’s a plan,” Jack said.  
****

“Damn it, Ianto! Watch your flank!” Elle shouted into the comm.

Rose fussed, waving her tiny fists in the air.

“I know, precious. Mummy has a potty mouth,” Tosh soothed, bouncing the baby in her sling. She was deftly moving between screens and running scans one-handed.

“My flank is fine, Elle,” Ianto grunted. He had been helping Owen corner the second Drasdin when the first, not nearly as unconscious as they had thought it, made its presence known. He applied his stun gun to the neck of the one Owen was tussling with, then turned to face the first one. This time, he opted not to go for subduing it and fired a round from the Torchwood-adapted shotgun into its center of mass. Two more shots guaranteed that even if it lived, it wouldn’t be walking anywhere anytime soon. When he turned back to Owen, the medic had managed to take his Drasdin down with Weevil spray and a bolt from the electrified baton.

“Jack,” Owen said into his comm.

They got a grunt as a response. Ianto helped Owen get the two aliens into restraints before they hurried off to help Jack.

“Oh, please!” Owen said, disgusted, as they found Jack, sitting on top of the three immobile aliens. His face and torso were bloody and his shirt was torn, but other than that he looked no worse for wear. “Is there anything you do that isn’t a show?”

“You don’t want to know the answer to that,” Ianto replied.

Jack Grinned and tapped his comm. “Ladies, we’re coming home. Ladies? Tosh? Elle? Try your comms,” he said to Ianto and Owen, hoping against hope that his had been damaged in the fight.

“Tosh?” Owen asked at the same time Ianto called for Elle.

“Fuck!” Jack yelled, sprinting for the SUV. Ianto and Owen looked at each other as they followed him, Ianto pulling out his phone to call Kathy Swanson, hoping they could get the building cordoned off until Torchwood could come back.  
****

The Hub’s lights dimmed and a quiet, pulsing siren sounded. Tosh pushed back from her desk, pulling the gun she kept beneath it into her hand; her other arm moved to press Rose more tightly against her chest. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Elle was also armed, and moving to put herself between Tosh and the cog door.

“Jack’s office,” Tosh suggested quietly.

“Go,” Elle replied.

Tosh hurried up to Jack’s office. She did a quick search to be sure it was empty, then closed and locked the door down into his room. By the time she had killed all the computers in the Hub save Jack’s, Elle had joined her.

“What do you see?” Elle asked softly.

“How did they find an entrance?” Tosh asked, watching three men make their way through a tunnel near the archives.

“We’ll ask them after I’ve broken their kneecaps,” Elle said, pulling Rose’s Moses basket out from under Jack’s desk. “I don’t even want to know how this ended up under there,” she muttered.

Tosh took the basket and settled Rose into it, then placed it on the floor between her and Elle.

“Is it just those three?” Elle asked.

Tosh shook her head. “There have to be more. There aren’t any power access points in that tunnel. Where else could they…oh no.”

“What?”

“The garage. There’s a 40-second window when you can slip in if you know what to look for and what to wait for.”

“How many came in through there?”

“Four more. Very heavily armed,” Tosh replied. “They must have already been here and been waiting for the right moment. Then…there,” she said, pointing to the screen. “Wormhole activity. They opened up a wormhole into that tunnel.”

“Switch to the live feeds. How long ago did they come through?”

“Ten minutes. The two in the garage have been there about 40; looks like they’re staying there to guard their escape.”

“Did you have time to see if Jack’s room’s secure?” Elle asked.

“I just sealed it off. When we rebuilt Jack’s office, we made those windows out of Torchwood-proof glass and that hatch door is virtually impenetrable. If we’re going to hole up somewhere until the cavalry arrives, it might as well be here,” Tosh replied.

“I don’t suppose you can track how close the SUV is?” Elle asked.

Tosh shook her head. “We’re being jammed. Hopefully, they’ve figured out we’re in trouble by now.”

“Hopefully,” Elle repeated, pulling at the side of Jack’s desk.

“What are you doing?”

“Ianto said there’s a false side to this thing. Jack has extra weapons hidden in there. Gotcha!” she said as it came off in her hands.

“If we can get them into the main area, I can try gassing them. Then we just have to take care of the two in the garage.”

“Elle! Do come out and have a chat with us!” Reginald Guppy called from the floor of the Hub. The other four Torchwood Four operatives surrounded him.

“Gas them,” Elle said quietly.

“Okay, I—damnit!”

“What?”

“This room isn’t completely sealed off. Some of the gas could seep in.”

“Damn it.”

“I don’t have all day, Elle.”

“Fuck.”  
****

The first one was taken out easily—stun gun to the back of the neck. His partner, a stunning woman, turned around at the sound of the falling body.

“What do you think you’re doing here? Come to lend a hand?” she said.

“No. Put down your weapon and step away from the door.”

The woman smiled. “You know we can give you what you really want. We’ll forgive you for your lapse in judgment.”

“Put. Your. Weapon. Down.” The cocking of the gun backed up the statement.

“Look at me, Gwen. I’m what you want. What you could have.”

Gwen Cooper stared her down and considered her options.  
****

“Okay. I go out there and take them out. You stay in here with Rose and keep her safe,” Elle said, crouched down behind Jack’s desk with Tosh.

“That’s a horrible plan! There are _five_ of them. We keep them talking and wait them out,” Tosh replied.

“Guppy won’t wait that long. If I’m lucky, I take him out first and Rose is safe.”

“ _If_ you’re lucky. Our only hope is to keep them distracted until—we could set Myfanwy on them.”

“Where does Ianto keep the barbecue sauce?” Elle asked.

They lifted their heads to peer out the windows of Jack’s office to the kitchen.

“Damnit,” Tosh said.

“Elle. We won’t wait all day. Come out.”

“Okay. I’m going out and locking the two of you in here,” Elle said, standing.

“Wait!”

Elle turned. “I’m expendable. You and Rose are not.” She walked to the door, letting Guppy and his goons see her every movement. She kept her gun up and aimed as she slipped out the door, engaging the lock behind her.

“Reginald. You just missed Rose. She went out for a day in the park with her dads and uncle. I will let her know you stopped by, however,” she said, her free hand coming to rest on the butt of the gun at her back.

“Very funny, Elle. Please have Miss Sato bring her out.”

“That’s _Dr._ Sato, Reginald. If you please.”  
****

Tosh pulled the keyboard down onto her lap and pulled up the CCTV of the Hub. She had been right—there weren’t any other Torchwood Four personnel in the Hub. If she could just sneak down through Jack’s office, she could outflank Guppy and his friends. She looked down at Rose, sleeping peacefully.

“You stay here and hold down Daddy’s office,” she said, then kissed Rose on her forehead. She quietly opened the hatch and dropped down the ladder, pulling the hatch closed and locking it behind her.  
****

“I am not above killing you to get into that office,” Guppy said.

Elle snorted. “You’re not above killing me, full stop.”

“All in good time, Elle.”

“I thought you didn’t have a lot of time, Reginald. You’re really going to have to prioritize.”

One of the Torchwood Four men put a hand to his ear. He waited a moment, then looked at the woman beside him. She nodded and went to the tunnels.

“Oh, am I boring all of you?” Elle asked.

“Just a little problem. Nothing for you to be worried about,” Guppy replied.  
****

“You’re running out of time to come on board, Gwen. They’re going to realize my colleague hasn’t checked in. Send reinforcements,” the woman said.

“Then I’ll make this quick,” Gwen replied, adjusting her aim for a kill shot.

“Think about it, Gwen. Look at me and really _think_ about it,” she said, her voice soft and soothing.

The woman was beautiful—black hair, high cheekbones, green eyes and a dusting of freckles. She looked…she looked how Gwen and Jack’s daughter might have looked.

“You should have had Jack’s children, Gwen. That was your life to have. Give this child to us, Gwen, and that can happen,” she tempted.

Gwen stood still.

“That baby isn’t yours, Gwen. She shouldn’t even be here. Give her to us. We will take her away and Jack will never know.”

Gwen stared, her body beginning to sway with the cadence of the beauty’s voice.

“Not yours, Gwen. Not his. Ours. We made her; she is ours. You can have yours if she is gone.”

Gwen shook her head and raised her gun. “No. She is mine. She’s _ours_. You can’t have her.”  
****

Tosh was moving as carefully as she could, wishing that there was slightly less light in the hallways. It would do her no good to move toward the main part of the Hub if the lighting threw her shadow onto the infiltrators.

“ _There_ you are. I had hoped you’d be trying to escape _with_ the baby. Would have made all this a lot easier.”

Tosh froze, then stood up straight, her gun resting comfortably in her hand. “She’s not here. She’s safe.”

“I don’t think so. Now, lead the way back to Rose and I’ll just shove you into one of those cells, deal?”

Tosh smiled, deadly calm. “You really have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into.”  
****

Elle tried not to flinch when she heard the two gunshots ring out. Guppy nodded to one of his men, who hurried off down the tunnels. Elle quickly shot one man in the head and caught Guppy on the move in the arm before diving back into Jack’s office.

Rose was crying, clearly not happy with the turn of events.

“Shh, it’s okay, baby. Momma’s here. Your daddies will be here soon.”

“Not soon enough,” Guppy said from the other side of the glass.

She turned to see him holding up a device.

“Where did you get that?” she asked.

“Torchwood One. I thought it might come in useful one day,” he replied, pressing against the device against the door lock.

She quickly shrugged into the harness they had for carrying Rose around, then slid her daughter into it, shushing her. “You have to stay still and not throw off Momma’s aim, okay?” she said quietly. She knew Tosh must have tried going through the tunnels to outflank Guppy and his goons. She would go the other direction and get two pressure doors between her and Torchwood Four before they got to her.

She hoped.  
****

“She’s going into the tunnels,” Guppy said to his lone companion. “Find out what the hell is going on in the garage and get Mills and Stevens up here. This will be open in a few more seconds.”

His companion nodded and took off for the tunnels.

Elle made it as far as the first pressure door when she felt the dull thud of an impact in her arm. She turned her back into the wall to break her fall. As she spun completely around, she shot the man who’d followed her. He grunted as she hit him in the shoulder, but he remained upright with the gun trained on her.

“Careful. Baby,” she said.

He adjusted his aim.

“Even if you get me in the head, I could still fall forward. Think of how very pissed that would make dear Reginald.”

“Oh, I don’t know, Elle. If I can’t have her, neither can Torchwood. I may put my trust in Richard’s aim,” Guppy said as he joined his man. “Come on, Elle. Dr. Sato is down the hall and my people in the garage will take care of your reinforcements. Hand over the baby.”

“She’s not going anywhere without me,” Elle said.

“Please,” Guppy said rolling his eyes.

“I’m breast feeding. If you want to take all the time for trial and error to make sure she gets everything she needs, go for it.”

Guppy grumbled something under his breath.

“Thought so.”

“Put your weapon down.”

Elle dropped the gun and held her hands up. Guppy walked over and grabbed her wounded arm in a tight grip. 

“Richard, if you would,” Guppy said.

Richard joined them and took out a small device.

“No!”

They looked up to see Gwen running toward them, her gun out. She stopped dead and fired, hitting Richard in the throat just as Guppy pulled Elle and Rose through the wormhole with him.  
****

“Did you stop them?” Tosh asked, breathing heavily.

“No,” Gwen said, tears in her eyes.

“Elle?”

“Alive. She went with him.”

“Good. That’ll even the odds when we go after them,” Tosh said.

“You’re not going anywhere,” Gwen said, pressing more gauze against the wound.

“Neither are you,” Jack said from behind them.


	73. Without Which None

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Elle meets with her captors and Team Torchwood prepares for war.

**73—Without Which None**  
“I’d put my hands up, but I’m holding Tosh’s wound,” Gwen said without turning around.

Owen shot past Jack and Ianto to kneel beside Gwen. She moved aside and let Owen look.

“Just a flesh wound,” Tosh said, her voice thready and her smile tight.

“You’re a loony,” Owen replied tightly, examining the wound. He looked up at Jack. “I need to operate.”

“Stretcher?” Ianto asked.

Owen shook his head. “Gwen, get back here and hold pressure.” He waited until she had done so before moving over to Tosh’s other side. “With me,” he said.

Gwen nodded and held down the gauze as Owen lifted Tosh into his arms. He turned sideways and hurried to the medical bay, Gwen keeping pace with ease.

“So this is what it takes to get swept up in your arms,” Tosh muttered.

“Shut up,” Owen said affectionately. If Tosh was trying to make jokes, then it must be really bad. The only time she wasn’t no-nonsense in a crisis was when she wanted to keep the rest of them from unraveling.

Jack and Ianto hurried behind Owen, Jack keeping a hand on Ianto to keep him from pushing Owen faster. Jack knew Ianto was blaming himself; he was, after all, the one who had brought Elle into their quiet little corner of insanity. Jack shot him a look and thought very hard about how much he loved him, but Ianto’s jaw stayed set.

“Ianto,” Jack said quietly.

“Later,” Ianto replied as they reached the medical bay.

“Tosh, the bad news is I’m going to put you under,” Owen said as he set Tosh on the exam table. “The good news is, you’ll be getting the really good drugs.”

Tosh smiled softly at him as he pulled out a syringe and injected her with some Torchwood-special painkillers.

Gwen stood holding pressure on Tosh’s wound as Owen hurried around the medical bay, getting prepped for surgery. Ianto went to help him scrub in.

Jack stood across the table from Gwen.

“Talk,” he said sharply.

“I couldn’t walk away,” she began.

“If I recall correctly, I _shipped_ you away.”

“She’ll never finish if you keep interrupting,” Tosh said, a dopey smile on her face.

“You’re stoned,” Jack said, his voice soft.

Tosh shrugged one shoulder, then grunted.

“Jack!” Owen snapped from across the room.

“Keep talking,” Jack said to Gwen as he took Tosh’s hand and squeezed it in apology.

“You gave me a lot to think about, Jack. I mean, I had been thinking, but not…in the right way. I took myself out of the picture and looked at things. Went back over everything Ianto and Elle had said to me,” Gwen said.

“But not what I said?”

Gwen gave a harsh smile. “You have a bit of a blind spot when it comes to me, Jack. I’ve taken advantage of it as it suits me; this time, I had to take you out of the equation.”

Ianto sucked in a breath and Jack narrowed his eyes.

“Figuratively speaking,” she said quickly.

“You can’t kill her now, Jack. She’s helping me operate,” Owen said calmly, stepping up beside Gwen.

“Ianto can do that,” Jack said.

“Ianto has other things he needs to do,” the younger man said, then turned and walked out of the medical bay.

“You should go help him,” Owen said.

Jack glared at him, then slid his gaze over to Gwen.

“We’ll be fine, Jack,” Owen said firmly.

Jack nodded and followed behind Ianto. He hurried to catch up to the younger man.

“You’re not doing something foolish like charging off on your own while the rest of us are busy, are you?” Jack asked as he reached Ianto.

“Foolish and half-thought out heroics are more your style, Captain,” Ianto replied coolly, not slowing his pace.

“Then what exactly are you doing?”

Ianto ignored him and moved to Tosh’s computer. “I’m laying the groundwork for when we come back,” he said, picking up the phone.

Jack crossed his arms over his chest and raised his eyebrow as he watched Ianto dial the phone.

“Martha? It’s Ianto. Not well.” He turned to look at Jack. “They’ve come.”

Jack could hear Martha’s frantic voice, but couldn’t make out the exact words.

“No, they’ve…Tosh has been shot. They took Elle and Rose. Can you and Tom…can you come?” he asked, his voice cracking.

Jack hurried forward to wrap his arm around Ianto’s waist as he took the phone from his lover.

“Martha. We’re going after them. I need someone here to keep an eye on Tosh and to be ready for however we come back,” he said.

“We’re on our way, Jack. Don’t go anywhere until I get there,” she said.

“Martha—”

“I mean it, Jack. Please, just…it’s just a little time, Jack,” she pleaded.

Jack closed his eyes. They all needed a little time. Tosh needed to be treated; Owen needed to be able to know Tosh would be okay while they were gone; and Gwen needed assessed.

“We’ll wait,” he said, then hung up.

“Thank you,” Ianto said quietly.

“Don’t thank me yet,” Jack replied.  
****

Guppy sighed as he stared at Elle restrained on her hospital bed. He had hoped she’d see reason, but the fact that she broke one of the nurse’s arms and dislocated the kneecap on a guard when they released her for Rose’s first feeding meant she was as stubborn as ever.

“You could have made this so much easier on yourself, Elle,” he said.

Icy blue-grey eyes rolled to stare at him. “So you’ve said. Repeatedly,” she replied, stretching as far as her restraints would allow.

“We’re going to let you have Eve—”

“Her name is _Rose_ ,” Elle interrupted.

“—for her meal. If you promise to behave yourself, I’ll have them release _both_ of your arms.”

“You’re too kind,” Elle replied.

“That’s what my colleagues keep telling me. They suggest I have you milked, run tests, synthesize the breast milk and then let them at you.”

“So what’s holding you back from agreeing? It can’t be your innate compassionate nature.”

“You would be smart to remember your position here, tenuous as it is.”

“Tomorrow or once she’s weaned; you’re going to kill me. Let’s not be silly and pretend your end game is anything else.”

“Ah, there’s that steel. I’ve missed that. You were such a wonder, Elle. And then you threw it all away. You tethered yourself to Yvonne’s will for what? A little country boy,” Guppy said.

“It was the button nose. Really, how could you resist that nose?” she asked.

Guppy snarled and moved forward with a speed Elle honestly didn’t know he had in him. His hand was wrapped around her throat in a moment. “The time for pithy retorts has passed. If you want to survive this, you’ll give me what I want.”

“You already have what you want. She’s two doors down in the nursery,” Elle said calmly.

“What I want,” he began, his thumb pressing against her pulse point, “is for you to stop playing house and help me restore Torchwood to its former glory.”

Elle took a deep breath, then let it out on a whistle. “Wow. You really are insane.”

Guppy’s hand tightened briefly before he released her.

“You’ll come around.”  
****

“How’s it going?” Jack asked from the doorway of the medical bay.

“I’ll be finished soon,” Owen said without looking up at him.

Gwen looked at Jack from her place beside Owen. “Is everything all right?” she asked.

“No,” Jack said shortly without looking at her. “Meet me upstairs in the war room when you’re done.”

Owen grunted in response.

“And me?” Gwen asked.

“Owen will bring you.”

Ianto stood in the hallway, his arms crossed over his chest. “We have to talk about this.”

“Right now, I have a rescue to plan. I want everything Elle brought with her on that drive up on the conference room computers in five minutes.”

“It’s already done. I’ll just get the coffee,” Ianto replied, his voice as emotionless as Jack’s.

Jack sighed as he watched Ianto away from him. He should have known Ianto would be on the same trajectory as he. And ahead of him.

Forty-five minutes later, Owen and Gwen reached the war room to find Jack and Ianto in a heated argument. In all honesty, they had heard the two men before they reached them. 

“Absolutely out of the question!” Jack shouted, and not for the first time.

“Remind me again, Jack. Which one of us is more familiar with Torchwood Four’s methods?” Ianto retorted.

“This is going well,” Owen said quietly to Gwen.

Jack whirled to face them. “How’s Tosh?”

“She’s asleep. The surgery went very well. She should make a full recovery; be pattering around in those ridiculously high heels in no time,” Owen replied, slumping into a chair and pulling the waiting coffee mug toward him.

Jack nodded. “Good.”

“Would you like to enlighten Gwen and me as to the foundation of your screaming match?” Owen asked.

“ _Ianto_ wants to waltz into Torchwood Four with guns blazing,” Jack said.

Owen and Gwen looked at each other, then Ianto, then waited.

“And?” Owen finally asked.

“It’s ridiculous. They’ll expect it!” Jack said.

“They’ll expect it right now. They’ll expect a knee-jerk reaction; a half-planned rescue mission. They won’t expect it in a few days,” Ianto calmly replied.

“ _Days_!?” Jack asked. “You expect them to refrain from killing Elle for _days_?”

“No. I’m hoping she can stay alive for at least a few days. But our focus has to be Rose. If we go in half-cocked, we get them both killed,” Ianto said.

Jack looked at his lover in shock. He knew Ianto had been black ops. He knew the man was a far more skilled fighter and strategist than any of them gave him credit for. He knew Ianto could hide everything behind that mask of his. He knew he could be harsh and angry and passionate. He didn’t know he could be this cold and calculating. He should have, but he didn’t.

“Ianto,” he breathed.

Ianto’s gaze snapped to Gwen and Owen, then back to Jack. “Yes?”

“Show us what you’re planning,” he said, taking his seat.  
****

“No,” Jack said, 30 minutes later. “It won’t work. Too much ground to cover, too many people. Even with your ‘diversion’.”

Ianto sighed. “It will work. It’s perfect.”

“I have to agree, Jack,” Owen said. He turned to look at Ianto. “You are really scary, mate.”

Ianto accepted the compliment with a nod.

“Three people cannot do this!” Jack protested.

“Four,” Ianto corrected.

“What?”

“There will be four of us,” Ianto said.

“If you think for one second I’m letting Martha or Tom go with us—”

“He means me, Jack,” Gwen said.

“Oh, you have got to be kidding me,” Jack said, still not looking at her.

“Four on the ground, Tosh running surveillance and tactical from here, and Martha and Tom waiting in medical,” Ianto said.

“No way,” Jack said.

“She came back, Jack. She took out their operatives and tried to save Rose.” Ianto turned to look at Gwen as he began a new tack. “And if she is planning to betray us, I’d rather have her where I can see her. If she fails; well, we can just leave her there.”

Gwen bit back a gasp.

Vicious. _That_ had been the word Jack was looking for earlier. Ianto was a vicious bastard.

“Okay,” Jack said. “Let’s run it again.”  
****

“Owen, will Tosh be up to running tactical in two days?” Jack asked.

Owen snorted. “We’re lucky she’s not up and insisting on doing it now.”

“Good. Martha and Tom will be here soon. We’ll have dinner and get them settled in here. No one leaves this place until we get Elle and Rose back,” Jack said.

“Jack?” Gwen asked quietly.

“What?”

She straightened her shoulders. “Could you call UNIT and make sure Rhys is okay? I didn’t let him know what I was doing and I don’t want him to worry. I don’t want them to think he knows something.”

Jack softened slightly. He may still be furious with Gwen, but he liked Rhys and didn’t want to cause the man any more trouble than he needed to. “I’ll take care of it.”

“Thank you.”

“Yes, well. I’m going to go check on my patient and make sure Tom and Martha will have everything they need to treat us when we come back,” Owen said, standing.

“Gwen, if you’ll come with me, we’ll work on choosing and cleaning weapons,” Ianto said, walking out of the room without waiting for her.

Jack followed them out, Gwen paused, wanting to say something, then gave him a small smile and hurried after Ianto.

Jack kept his gaze on her back until she turned the corner.

Ianto was already opening weapons lockers and arranging guns and knives on the large table when Gwen entered the room.

“Thank you,” Gwen said softly.

“For what?” he replied.

“For agreeing to let me go with you. Jack wouldn’t have allowed it if you had said no. I really appreciate it.”

“This isn’t forgiveness, Gwen. You have to earn that.”

“I know. I will.”

“All right, then. What do you want to carry?”


	74. In the Belly of the Beast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Elle tries to escape with Rose and Jack & Co. open up a can of whoopass with the help of the Doctor and his Companion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH in this chapter. I'll just be over here, hiding from the shoes.

**74—In the Belly of the Beast**   
“Two days, Ianto. It has been two bloody days! What the fuck are we waiting for?” Jack railed. He was in his office, shouting at his lover because Ianto is the only one brave enough to be behind closed doors in a small room with him.

“We are waiting for Tosh and Mainframe. We are waiting for them to have the coordinates _exactly_ right so that we all land in the same place and so that same place is exactly where we want to be. And you know this, as I’ve explained it at least four times, so would you mind telling me the real reason you are screaming like a fucking banshee?” Ianto replied, barely keeping his tone even.

Jack opened and closed his mouth several times before settling on a response. “A banshee? That’s the best you could come up with?”

Ianto leaned against Jack’s desk. He squeezed the bridge of his nose between his thumb and index finger. They were back to the swinging moods. Joy. 

“Jack,” Ianto said calmly. “We are close. We are very, very close. Note the fact that we’ve all been ready in combat gear for the past eight hours. As soon as Tosh gives the word, we’re gone.”

“Yes, I’ve refrained from commenting on the attire. I didn’t know Owen owned that much leather.”

Ianto smirked, then sobered. “What’s really bothering you, Jack?”

“What if this is supposed to happen?”

Ianto bit back a gasp. 

“What if this is supposed to be? What if I’m finally being punished for my sins?”

Ianto grabbed Jack by the braces and hauled him up out of his chair until they were nose-to-nose. “You arrogant bastard. Do you actually think Elle and our child have been taken because you’ve been a bad boy? That they are going to torture and probably murder the truest friend I ever had just so the universe can even the score with you? Are you fucking _insane_?” he asked, shoving Jack away from him.

Jack recovered quickly, holding a beseeching hand out to Ianto. “Ianto, I—”

“Shut up, Jack. I’m going to go see how Tosh is doing. I feel the incredible urge to shoot something.”

Jack bit his lip and watched Ianto go. That could have gone…better.  
****

Elle Atreides was _humming_. It wasn’t right. It was a special level of wrong. The former most fearsome operative of Torchwood. Humming.

Two days she had been with them, and he still hadn’t figured out her angle. Guppy stood watching her through the one-way glass. She was sitting in the rocking chair, her ankle chained to it to be sure she a) didn’t go far and b) didn’t use the chair as a weapon. However, he doubted she’d do anything with the baby in her arms.

He shook his head at that. He had thought she’d gone soft over Jones, but that was nothing compared to this. She hadn’t even _tried_ to escape again. And sure, logic told him she was biding her time, waiting for them to let their guard down—despite her initial outbursts. But those outbursts had been contained once they started threatening to keep the baby away from her. 

He knew the others thought him mad to keep her alive. Edwards was dying to get even with her over the injuries and deaths to his security team. Edwards warned him that Elle was waiting for her moment; but he knew something Edwards did not.

Elle Atreides was not feeling any pain. His right-hand researcher theorized it was the fact that she was no longer pregnant. Her body wasn’t trying to warn her about impending labor. _He_ had a better theory.

Elle was dying. Her body was slowly breaking down and it had gone back to the default of protecting her. He imagined that, were she still able to feel anything, she’d be in excruciating pain. And how he would have loved to have watched _that_.

He had his team working overtime to make sure they had every bit of information about her genetics they would need for the future. The ova harvesting was scheduled for the end of the week.  
****

“There! Right there!” Tosh shouted, pointing at her screen.

“Way to go, Tosh!” Gwen said, squeezing the woman’s shoulder. She ignored Jack’s glare at the gesture.

“Can you get us there?” Jack asked, leaning over Tosh’s shoulder.

She shot him a mild glare. “I can even get you back. You have 15 minutes to get ready.”

Jack nodded and his team sprang into action, double-checking weapons, munitions and other gear. They had been over the plan and the blueprints for Torchwood Four so many times, they could recite both in their sleep.

They were ready for war.  
****

“Now remember: traveling without a ship can cause nausea—”

“Dizziness,” Ianto added.

“Spatial disorientation,” Gwen said.

“And muscle spasms. Really, Jack, we’ve got it memorized,” Owen said.

“This is no time to relax,” Jack said.

“We’ve got that,” Ianto said, slapping a magazine home into his weapon. “Tosh?”

“I’m ready to activate when you are,” she replied. She smiled at all of them, but she had eyes only for Owen. “Be careful. Bring them home.”

Jack nodded as Tosh engaged the wormhole and swirling blue light appeared before them.

“After you,” Owen said.

Jack smiled and jumped through. Gwen followed, then Owen and Ianto brought up the rear.

_Gah, Jack Harkness, you lying motherfucker! ‘Muscle spasms’? That was like giving birth through every muscle in my body!_ Owen thought as he landed in the parallel world. But what he said, in a gasping voice, was, “Are we all here?”

“Check,” Gwen said, coughing.

“Yep,” Ianto replied.

“Yes,” Jack said.

Owen tapped his earpiece. “Tosh, can you hear us?”

“Barely…Mainframe..sig…because I don’t want to lose all of you,” Tosh finished.

“There you are,” Jack said.

“We should keep chatter to a minimum,” Ianto scolded.

“I’ll be waiting,” Tosh said, then there was silence on the link.

Jack took a moment to survey their surroundings. They had come out a few feet from a large oak tree. He could see the building housing Torchwood Four quite clearly.

“They’ll be coming for us soon,” Ianto said to Jack quietly as the older man approached him. “They can’t have missed that light show.”

“Gwen, you’re with Ianto. The two of you set the charges while Owen and I take care of security,” Jack said.

His team nodded and hurried off in the dark to begin their rescue.  
****

“You know, some people would be creeped out at you staring at a breast-feeding mother with that much lust,” Elle said to Guppy as he entered the room. She didn’t bother to look at him as she spoke.

“Surely you haven’t become so domesticated that you get creeped out by mere mortals?” he replied.

She looked up at him and the smile on her face had the feral edge he remembered. “Something with a core of pure evil always manages to make the hair on the back of my neck stand up. The brazen stupidity gets my hackles up though. Dangerous combination for you.”

She hadn’t spoken to him with this much venom since she’d returned to them. He wondered what she was up to. He had just opened his mouth to ask her when the comm in his ear crackled to life.

“Yes,” he said sharply.

“Sir. There’s been wormhole activity to the west of the building.”

Guppy’s face broke into a grin. _Finally_. They were on his turf now; he could put an end to Torchwood Three once and for all.

Elle watched the expression on Guppy’s face and stopped Rose’s feeding. She quickly tucked herself away and slid Rose into the sling she’d fashioned.

“Send Echo and Bravo teams out to greet them. Bring the bodies back,” Guppy said.

Elle snorted with laughter. 

“Now,” Guppy growled.

“Sir.”

“‘Echo and Bravo teams’, Reginald? Really? Why not just call them Purple and Orange Squadrons?” Elle said.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You have a skeleton crew here, Reggie. And after the dust-ups with Torchwood Three, you barely have enough men for regular security rounds, let alone two full teams.” She tilted her head to the side. “Are you afraid they’re monitoring your frequencies? But how could that be? To do that through a wormhole, they’d need the codes, frequencies and blueprints for this place, some truly advanced tech and a technical geniu—oh.”

Guppy stormed over and wrenched her up out of the chair, taking careful note of her lack of reaction when the cuff on her ankle tore into her flesh. “Two teams or ten men, they’re not getting Eve.”

Elle hauled her free arm back and punched him in the nose, feeling a satisfying _crack_ beneath her knuckles. “Her _name_ is _Rose_ ,” she growled.

Guppy wiped his nose and looked at her. “Bitch.”

“You bet your ass.”

“You’re coming with me until this is over.”

“And what makes you think I won’t break your neck one-handed the _second_ you undo that cuff?”

Faster than she would have given him credit for, he pulled a hypodermic out of his pocket, popped off the cap and jabbed it into Rose’s arm.

“Fucker!” Elle shouted, her arm coming up to comfort her child even as she kneed Guppy in the balls.

Rose continued to scream as her mother soothed her and Guppy gasped for breath.

“You come quietly and peacefully or she doesn’t get the antidote.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“Better than letting them have her.”

Elle weighed her options quickly. He had to have the antidote at another location, so it benefitted her to go with him. She nodded.

Guppy handed her the key and pulled out a gun, which he kept trained on her as she unlocked herself. “After you,” he said, gesturing with the gun.

She started to walk out of the room, pausing at the door to look over her shoulder at him. “So we’re clear, when I do kill you, it will be painfully slow.”

He shoved her forward into the hall. He stopped briefly to smash the butt of his gun through emergency glass. He pulled out the comm and spoke into it, knowing his voice would carry through the building. 

“We are under attack. All personnel report to your safety zones.”

He dropped the comm and turned to Edwards, who was waiting in the hall.

“Give your men their orders: shoot to kill,” Guppy told him. 

“With pleasure,” he replied.  
****

Using his wrist strap, Jack was able to take out the exterior security cameras quickly and easily. He was greatly disappointed when the entire security team came bursting through the front doors of the building to head for the oak tree; he had hoped there would be some challenge to it. He and Owen were already at the back entrance, tucked in the shadows, by the time Four had responded.

A loud explosion from the area of the garage let him know Ianto and Gwen had accomplished their goal. He watched the security team split up.

“Do we wait?” Owen asked.

“No need,” Ianto said as he and Gwen slid out of the shadows.

“You are once scary man, teaboy,” Owen whispered.

Ianto merely nodded and looked at Jack.

“Okay, Gwen and Owen, you guys haul ass upstairs and start working down to the main level. Ianto and I will hit ops and start the link for Tosh, then clear the main floor. Set charges as you go,” Jack said.

Gwen and Owen nodded. They had been over this before, but knew Jack needed to say it again.

“Let’s go get our girls,” Jack said, opening the back door.  
****

They could hear the explosion inside the building. Guppy jerked at the sound and Elle just smiled. Ianto did so love those blowing up noises.

“Downstairs,” Guppy said, urging Elle into a run toward the stairway doors.

“Good thinking, Reggie. We shouldn’t use the elevators in an emergency,” she said as she slammed open the door.

They reached the basement quickly, going to a room at the end of the hall. A room she was uncomfortably familiar with.

“Ah, memories,” Guppy said, pushing her toward a chair in the corner. He went to a laptop next to the exam table and entered some commands. The lights in the room and hall dimmed to emergency lighting.

“I think it’s a little late for mood lighting, don’t you?” Elle asked, her hand slipping out to nab a scalpel off a tray. She tucked it into her waistband, under her shirt, while his attention was still on the computer.

“Simple counter-tactics for making sure they don’t bother to look here right away.”

“You do realize we’re cornered down here?”

He looked up at her and smiled. “They won’t make it this far.”

“You really don’t have the faintest idea under _God_ what you’ve called down on yourself, do you?”

“Need I remind you that I’m the one holding the gun?”

“Need I remind you that I’m the one holding the baby?”

“Your _poisoned_ baby. Bring her here and set her down,” he said, gesturing to the exam table.

Elle eyed him carefully. To treat Rose, he’d have to put the gun down. Then she’d have him. She was used to maneuvering around the baby; he wasn’t. She slowly walked toward him, slipping Rose out of her sling. As she set her down on the table, she tightened the blanket around her. Just to be safe.  
****

Jack knew Ianto had wanted to be paired with Gwen on the raid to keep an eye on her, but he needed Ianto close to make sure he was safe. And, he had to admit, because he knew Ianto would be the only one to talk him down from the edge if they found the worst in their search.

Breaching the ops center had been scarily easy; as soon as they had burst through the door, Ianto took out the two guards with head shots, leaving only one programmer for Jack to deal with.

“Hurry,” Ianto said, moving away to begin setting charges.

Jack slipped one of Tosh’s handy-dandy Penelope devices onto the nearest computer and opened up his link. “Tosh, you reading this?”

He watched as the device began blinking with a purple light. “Tosh!”

“Oh, hello there, beautiful,” Tosh breathed.

“It’s working,” he said to Ianto.

“Let’s go, then.”

They left the room and closed the door behind them. Ianto turned to begin sealing the doors so no one could get in to undo their work.

Jack barely heard the footsteps at the end of the hall in time. He turned and fired a split-second after the man did, catching the Torchwood Four worker in the throat. Jack stared in horror at the bullet hole lodged in the wall a hair’s-breadth above Ianto’s head.

“Too close,” he said.

Ianto nodded and stood, having finished with the door. “Let’s get the rest of this floor.”

They hurried toward the other end of the hall. As they moved, a figured came around the corner. Jack raised his gun and fired. The figured dashed back around the corner. Jack waited for the sound of footsteps or for the shooter come back around; after all, Jack really had no cover. He pressed Ianto behind him as he saw a gun come around the corner, the hand holding it barely visible. This couldn’t be a regular security person. He could hear two voices talking, but the tones were too low to make out the words.

“Toss the weapon out and I won’t shoot you again,” Jack called. He didn’t have to turn his head to know Ianto was glaring at him.

He waited a moment, then the gun was replaced with a pinstripe-clad arm holding a—it couldn’t be.

“Doctor?” he asked, completely flabbergasted.

“Jack!” came the familiar voice.

“The hell? Get out here!” Jack shouted.

A second later, the Doctor appeared in the hallway, a young woman with mousy brown hair and glasses beside him. She was holding a large handgun, which was completely at odds with her appearance. He strode toward them, Ianto close behind him, walking sideways to keep an eye on the corridor behind them.

“What are you doing here?” Jack asked the Doctor.

“We were looking for you,” he replied.

“You didn’t bring the TARDIS, did you?” No, he couldn’t have; Jack would have heard it. He’d have felt it.

“Uh, no. Didn’t want to risk two universes tearing apart. We came by other means,” he replied.

Jack watched as Ianto and the Companion took up flanking positions, watching for enemies.

“Good,” he told the Doctor. “Then you should take those means back. Nice as it is to see you, I don’t have time for a reunion right now.” The last thing he needed was the Doctor trying to keep from killing people who so very much deserved to die.

“We can help,” the Companion said.

“Sure, they can follow your blood trail all the way to us,” Jack said, nodding at her arm.

“Doctor, may I have your tie?” she asked the Doctor as she shrugged out of her blazer.

The Doctor handed her his tie and took her coat. She quickly wrapped the tie around the wound, staunching the blood flow, then put her blazer back on.

“Shall we?” she asked, and Jack had the knee-jerk reaction that the Doctor had chosen a good one. Again.

“Where’s the rest of your team?” the Doctor asked Jack.

“Gwen and Owen are two floors up; Tosh is back at the Hub monitoring our escape route,” Ianto replied. He looked at Jack. “We should get moving.”

Jack nodded and followed Ianto toward the other end of the hall, the Doctor and his Companion close behind.

“Why are you here, Jack?” the Doctor asked.

Jack’s face hardened as he looked at his friend. This was not the time for one of the Doctor’s patented ‘Everyone Deserves a Second Chance, Jack’ speeches. “Torchwood Four took something of mine. I’m here to get it back and destroy this place once and for all,” he replied, his voice low and deadly.

“Jack,” the Doctor said, putting a hand on his arm, “what did they take?”

“Whom,” Ianto corrected.

“They took my daughter and her mother, Doctor,” Jack said, staring at the Doctor, daring him to pass judgment.

“All right. I take it this is a big place?” the Doctor said.

“Yes. Not as big as Torchwood London, but big,” Jack replied.

“Then we should split up and cover more ground.”

Jack thought about it for a moment. The woman looked like she knew what she was doing with her weapon, and if she was with the Doctor, she was trustworthy. At a nod from Ianto, Jack made the decision.

“All right. You come with me; your Assistant can go with Ianto.” Jack turned to Ianto. “Go down to the basement and work your way back up to the Doctor and me.”

Ianto nodded and started for the stairwell.

“Ianto,” Jack said, stopping the other man with a hand on his arm. “Be careful.”

Ianto squeezed Jack’s hand, then continued on his way.

“You keep an eye on him,” Jack ordered the woman.

She nodded and hurried after Ianto.

“Come on, Doctor. We have to finish this floor and then move down. Keep your eyes and ears open, but stay behind me. I won’t hesitate to shoot,” Jack said.

“Yes, I remember.”

“Sorry about that, Doctor. We’ve only encountered a few people since we got here and they’ve all been hostile. After one of them barely missed Ianto, I stopped giving them the benefit of the doubt,” he replied as they moved down the corridor, opening doors and checking rooms quickly before moving on.

“I’m glad he’s all right. I know what it meant to lose him,” the Doctor said softly, remembering the broken and devastated man on the Valiant.

Jack paused and looked at him. “You know, I think you actually might,” he replied quietly before moving on.  
****

Guppy watched Elle tuck the blankets around her daughter. He barely kept the sneer off his face. You didn’t coddle a weapon.

“Step back,” he said.

Elle took a single step back, keeping her hands where he could see them. He set his gun down on the table holding the laptop and stepped closer to the baby. He pulled another syringe out and jabbed it into Rose’s arm. The baby swung her fists angrily and wailed.

Movement on the computer screen caught his eye. He recognized the feed from his CCTVs. They were inside his building. They were inside his ops center. He’d have to make this quicker than he’d like; leaving Elle’s body for them to find should give him just enough time to esc—

He howled in pain as the scalpel sliced across his cheek. He had caught the motion at the last second, sparing his throat.

Elle cursed inwardly. She was slower than she needed to be. He shouldn’t have had time to move.

Guppy reared back and away from the exam table, clasping his cheek. Elle took the chance to round the table and go for the gun. Guppy moved at the same time and it went flying into a corner behind Elle. She looked at him, smiling coldly, every inch the Secure Archives agent. His only hope was to get his hands on the baby.

“You’ll never make it,” she said, seeing his gaze flick over to Rose.

“Neither will you.”

Elle rolled her head, cracking her neck. “You’ve forgotten to take one very important thing into consideration.”

“What? That you’re _Secure Archives_? You’re out of practice.”

“No,” she said, lashing out with a vicious kick to his knee. “I’m a mother. And I’m just settling in.”

Guppy, to Elle’s surprise, didn’t immediately fold under the kick. He wisely stepped back out of her range. “There you are, Atreides. Fighting through that murk.” He leered at her. “A _mother_ wouldn’t fight with her poor, defenseless baby mere inches away.”

“We have the same predicament, Reggie. You want her unharmed as badly as I do.”

Guppy backed away slowly, rounding to the other side of the exam table. “Oh, that’s where you’re wrong, Elle. All I need is her body. A few simple cells to replicate her at my own leisure. Breathing is preferable, but not necessary.”

Elle dodged forward and scooped Rose off the table. She stepped back quickly and set her into a crib in the corner. She heard Guppy coming up behind her and whirled to meet him, jabbing out to stab him in the shoulder with the scalpel. Guppy fell back, crashing into a table. He looked at the contents of the table and started throwing them on the ground at Elle’s feet.

Elle looked down at the broken glass and then up at him. She took a deliberate step toward him, hearing the satisfying crunch of the glass without feeling it. 

“You’re _done_ , Guppy,” she said.

Guppy edged away from her. “No, Elle. You’re done. You don’t feel the pain anymore because you’re dying. But I can help you. Come with me and I’ll help you both.”

Elle tutted. “Reginald. Even if I die, when I take you with me, her fathers will come for her. She’ll be _safe_. You have absolutely _nothing_ to offer me.”

Guppy considered his options. Elle was between him and the crib, but not between him and the gun. True, she was Secure Archives, but the pregnancy, its advancement and her recent convalescence (imprisonment) had slowed her down. He could probably take her; at the very least, he could get to the gun first. Scalpel vs. gun. Gee, let him think about it.

Elle watched Guppy closely. Everything he was thinking flashed across his face. She straightened her shoulders and waited; she knew she would probably die here, but she was taking him with her. Rose _would not_ be raised by this monster. She held the scalpel in a relaxed grip and waited.  
****

“Shake a leg, Gwen,” Owen said.

“Shouting down the hallway is not the best way to stay unnoticed,” she replied, setting the last charge for this floor.

“Maybe I _want_ them to come out,” he growled.

She hurried to join him at the stairwell door. “I know. I do, too. But let’s make sure we have our arses covered before we start looking for trouble, yeah? Make sure Jack and Ianto get their family out?”

Owen nodded, hating when she was right.

Gwen smiled. “You can go through the door on the next floor first. Hopefully, they’ll come to see what all the noise is.”

The smile he gave her was frightening.  
****

The attack, when it came, was unskilled, but no less determined. Guppy had one goal: his own survival. Elle had a stronger one: the life of her daughter.

Guppy first went for the gun, diving for it like a man who had watched one too many action movies. Elle dove with him, catching him around the waist and shoving the scalpel between two ribs. Guppy screamed in pain and kicked out, shoving her off of him. She recovered quickly, but he already had the gun in his hand. 

“Make it quick,” she said.

Guppy sneered. She picked a fine time to beg.

He shot her in the stomach. “You’ll die on my terms.”

She pressed a hand over the wound, feeling a dull thud as the bullet settled. She dropped to her knees, her head bowed. He walked over to her, triumphant. As he stood beside her, Elle’s arm came up and she stabbed him in the chest.

“That wasn’t begging; that was a warning,” she gasped out.

Guppy stumbled back, dropping the gun. He pulled the scalpel out and stared at it. “You can’t…but…” he dropped to the floor, then fell to his side.

Elle staggered past him to the crib. Her knees gave out and she gasped as pain flooded through her body. _Huh_ , she thought as she gripped the sides of the crib, _always wondered if dying would hurt._ She looked through the slats at Rose, whose face was red from her recent crying. The baby turned her head to look at her mother.

“I’m sorry,” Elle whispered, pressing her head against the edge of the crib. She reached out a hand to touch Rose. “Daddy’ll be here soon.” She pulled her hand back and laid down on the floor, between Guppy and the crib, just in case. She didn’t have the energy to go for the gun. 

She stared up at the ceiling, willing Jack and Ianto to hurry. The white of the ceiling blurred and she blinked. She closed her eyes for a moment, smiling as she heard Rose snuffle. She opened her eyes again and for a brief moment, she saw a young woman in a car park. A woman with Ianto’s nose and tears in her eyes; eyes shaped like her own.

“Rose.”  
****

There were a dozen questions Ianto wanted to ask the young woman accompanying him. Why was the Doctor looking for Jack? Would he help them or hinder them? Was he going to try to take Jack? And would she shoot him when he punched the Doctor for calling Jack ‘wrong’?

_Focus, Ianto. First fist to the face first_ , he thought, mentally shaking himself.

“Have you been with the Doctor for long?” Ianto asked aloud as he and his new partner hurried down the stairs. 

“Some days, it feels like forever,” she replied.

“He said you were looking for Jack?”

“We were. We needed him for something and thought we had caught him at the right time.”

“According to Jack, the Doctor doesn’t always have the best accuracy with dates,” Ianto said, pushing open the door at the bottom. 

She went through the door in front of him, gun at the ready.

“Jack’s right. But I think it’s a good thing we showed up. Like Jack said, Torchwood Four is a big place.”

“This is the only floor whose lights aren’t working properly,” Ianto said, nodding at the ceiling lights, half of which were out. He had a suspicion this was done in a futile attempt to distract them; Guppy had never been very good at countermeasures.

“Where is everyone? This is a Torchwood facility; it should be crawling with people,” she said, unnerved by the silence.

Ianto gave a brief moment to wonder how she knew about Torchwood staffing and filed the question away for later. If they had a later.

“When Torchwood Four went rogue, they only took a small number of specialized staff. We kind of caused a distraction in the field outside the building to draw most of them out. We’ve run into some of the security inside,” Ianto explained as they began searching rooms.

“Hence Jack’s shoot first attitude.”

Ianto allowed himself a small smile. “No, that’s—do you hear that?” Ianto said, then ran down the hall. He would know that noise anywhere—that noise shot him out of a sound sleep on a regular basis.

“Ianto, wait!” 

He paused next to the door at the end of the hall. “In here,” he said, his voice thick with emotion.

The Companion stood on the opposite side of the door. “On three,” she mouthed.

He nodded and reached up to tap his ear, opening his comm link to let the others know they’d found them. When she reached three, he threw the door open.

A loud baby’s squall came out of the room.  
****

Guppy waited until the sound of Elle’s breathing stopped. He stood up and clambered to the crib, lifting the baby out. He heard voices in the hallway and picked up his dropped gun, backing to the far side of the room, where he could see anyone who chose to come through the door. The door flew open.

****  
Jack froze in the middle of the hall.

“Jack?” the Doctor asked.

“Ianto turned on his comm. He found her.”

“Where are they?”

“I don’t know,” Jack said, running for the stairwell. “We’ll start at the bottom. Gwen! Owen! Meet us in the basement!” he shouted. “Ianto, wait for us!”  
****

“Gwen! Owen! Meet us in the basement!” Jack shouted through their comms.

Gwen and Owen looked at each other and took off at a run.

“How bad do you think it is?” Gwen asked as she slammed through the stairwell door.

“Less talking, more running,” Owen panted. He would be damned if they got there too late to help.  
****

“Step where I can see you!” Guppy shouted from inside the room, his voice ragged.

Ianto stiffened. 

The Companion shook her head at Ianto.

“Okay,” Ianto said. “I’m coming in slowly.”

He ignored her biting back a groan. 

Ianto stepped inside the room, his gun out in front of him. He heard the Companion following him and was tempted to lift an eyebrow at the language being whispered at his back.

Guppy sat on the floor, a gun in one hand and a wriggling bundle in the other.

“Please,” Ianto said softly. As much as he wanted this man dead, he wasn’t above begging for his daughter.

“You’ve ruined everything,” Guppy growled. He was sweating profusely and his pulse was erratic. He was dying. He would have to give up the baby for the others to find later; his work would continue beyond his death. But he wasn’t going alone.

Ianto shook his head. “Where’s her mother?”

Guppy laughed, then coughed. He wiped the blood away from his mouth with the hand holding the gun. “She’s over there,” he nodded to his left.

Ianto could see Elle’s bloodied and bare feet on the far side of an exam table. 

“Bitch stabbed me in the chest before I offed her,” Guppy said.

Ianto swung his attention back to Guppy and tightened his grip on his gun. “Give me the baby.” 

“She’s ours. The first. We were saving the world,” he said, his voice getting fainter.

“You were playing god,” Ianto ground out.

“What does that make you? Some avenging angel come to exact God’s vengeance?” 

“Give me the baby.”

Guppy shook his head. “I don’t believe in God anyway,” he said, then pulled the trigger.

Ianto gasped as the Companion grabbed him and shoved him out of the way, causing the bullet to go through his side instead of through something important. He shrugged her off as she tried to assess the wound.

“I’m fine!” he growled at her. She huffed and turned as she heard the stairwell door burst open. Pounding footsteps sounded and Jack skidded to a halt just outside the door. He was joined quickly by Gwen, then Owen and the Doctor.

“I’m all right,” Ianto said. He had heard Jack shout through the comm but had yet to respond. He leaned over the now-unconscious Guppy and lifted a screaming Rose into his arms. 

She quieted instantly.

“Ianto?” Jack asked, moving forward.

“She’s fine,” he replied, tears in his eyes as he stared down at his daughter.

“Ianto’s got a through-and-through over his left hip,” the Companion said. She had taken Guppy’s gun and was checking his pulse. “This one’s dead.”

“Good,” Jack said. 

Owen brushed past Gwen and the Doctor and went over to examine Ianto. “She’s right,” he said, examining the wound.

The Companion rolled her eyes and stepped away from the small group, pulling her blazer tight around her. 

“She shoved me out of the way or it would have been worse,” Ianto explained, nodding at her.

Jack turned to the woman. “Thank you.”

She nodded and walked over to where Elle had fallen, fighting to save her daughter. She knelt beside her head and gently closed her sightless eyes.

Jack joined her and knelt beside the Elle’s body. “I am so sorry,” he whispered. He leaned forward and kissed Elle’s cooling lips. _I promise I’ll take care of them_ , he thought.

“We should go,” the Doctor said.

“We can’t leave her here,” the Companion said to Jack.

Jack nodded and lifted the limp body into his arms, not bothering to shoot the woman a glare. _Of course_ he wasn’t going to leave Elle behind. “Gwen, Owen, did you get the charges set?”

“On the upper floors, yes. But not down here,” Owen replied.

“We’ll get them on the way out. Gwen, you’re on point. Doctor, you stay close behind her. Owen, bring up the rear, set the charges as you go. Ianto, we’ll need you to be able to shoot. Give her the baby,” he said, nodding at the Companion.

The young woman responded to Jack’s tone and took two steps toward Ianto before the Doctor shouted,

“NO! She can’t touch the baby!”

The woman froze in her tracks as the weapons of Torchwood Three were trained on her. She held her hands up.

Jack looked from the woman to the Doctor and back again. Why wouldn’t the Doctor trust his own Companion? He looked at the Doctor again; the Time Lord was giving him a very determined look. He suddenly had a flash of memory. Rose—the Doctor’s Rose—and a baby. He nearly choked as he got it.

“Everyone put your guns down. Ianto, give the baby to the Doctor,” he said.

“But Jack—”

“Trust me, Ianto. Give her to the Doctor,” Jack replied, trying very hard not to stare at the Companion. _It must be a perception filter._

Ianto nodded slowly and walked over to the Doctor. He gently placed Rose in the Doctor’s arms.

“Hello, sweetheart,” the Doctor whispered.

“Ianto, how’s that wound doing?” Jack asked him.

_Hurts like a bitch._ “It’s nothing that can’t wait a while longer,” Ianto replied firmly.

Jack turned to look at his grown-up daughter. “You and Ianto flank the Doctor.”

She nodded and lowered her hands. She pulled her gun back out of its holster.

“All right, people. Let’s get the hell out of here,” Jack said.

Owen and Gwen went out the door first, planting charges in the hallway before the others joined them at the stairwell door.

Gwen took point as they hurried up to the main floor.

“Tosh, can you hear me?” Jack said as they ran.

“Yes, Jack. You had better hurry, you have hostiles coming your way through the main entrance,” she replied over the comm link.

“Back door, Gwen!” Jack shouted.

Gwen took a sharp left turn and the others followed.

“You! Stop there!” someone shouted from behind them.

Grown-up Rose and Owen turned and fired at the new arrivals, taking them down with two shots each. Nodding at each other, they turned to catch up with the others, taking their former positions in the group.

Gwen burst through the back door and fired without thought as she saw two shadowed forms coming at her.

“You’re clear to the exit point,” Tosh’s voice came through their earpieces.

The small group ran into a large field, stopping near the ancient oak.

Jack gently laid Elle’s body on the ground, then covered her with his coat before standing up straight.

“Ianto,” Jack said.

Ianto nodded and pulled a device out of his pocket and handed it to Jack. He stood beside the older man with his hand on his shoulder. They were going to end this.

“What are you doing?” the Doctor asked.

“Finishing this,” Jack answered, his voice tight.

He pressed a button and Torchwood Four exploded.

“There were people in there!” the Doctor yelled at him. The sound woke the baby in his arms and she started screaming.

“They made their choice,” Ianto said softly, taking Rose from the Doctor. 

“Tosh, open up the portal, love, would you?” Owen said.

“Three minutes,” she replied.

“Gwen, would you take Rose for a moment?” Jack asked.

Gwen hurried over and took the baby, then retreated to stand with Owen. She was more than a little shocked that she had been allowed near the baby, let alone entrusted with holding her.

“Doctor, this had to be done,” Jack explained softly.

“You don’t know everyone there was involved. Did everyone at Canary Wharf know what Hartman was doing?” the Doctor yelled.

Jack’s jaw tightened. “This is different. When Torchwood Four went rogue, they knew what they were doing. They made their choice.”

“But…” the Doctor began.

“I’m sorry, Doctor. It had to be done.” But he wasn’t sorry. Oh, sure, he was sorry the Doctor had had to witness this, but he would never feel sorry for taking this revenge.

“If it’s any consolation, Doctor, Tosh had orders to alert the authorities the moment we entered the building. They should be here any minute, hopefully with emergency services,” Ianto said.

“Ianto, go join the others. I need a moment with the Doctor,” Jack said quietly.

Ianto nodded. He had no desire to stay near the Doctor any longer than he had to; he still felt the alien was in serious need of a discussion about how one treats their friends. He took a deep breath and walked over to where Jack had placed Elle’s body. He knelt to pick her up, then moved to stand with Gwen and Owen.

Owen put his hand on Ianto’s shoulder. “I’m really sorry, mate,” he said.

“Me, too, Ianto,” Gwen said. 

Ianto nodded at them. “How is she?” he asked.

“I think she’s settling down. It’s best to get her used to the running early, yeah?” Gwen replied.

Ianto had a sneaking suspicion that Gwen was right. Growing up in Torchwood meant she would be doing a lot of running.

“Martha,” Owen said into the comm.

“Everyone all right?” Martha replied.

“Rose seems fine, but we’ll give her a check-up. Ianto’s got a through-and-through over his hip.”

“Can he walk or will we need the gurney?”

“He can walk. Strong arm to support him just in case wouldn’t be a bad idea,” Owen replied.

“And Elle?” Martha asked.

Owen swallowed. “No.”

“We’ll be waiting.”

Jack turned off his own comm link, then walked over to his daughter and gently pulled her glasses off. “What are you doing here, baby?” he asked softly, cupping her cheek in his hand. He stared at her, memorizing her face. She looked a lot like her mother, but he could see himself and Ianto in her features. Especially the nose.

“Jack—” the Doctor warned.

Jack nodded, knowing better than to ask too many questions.

“Jack! Ride’s here!” Owen shouted as a whirly blue portal opened.

“Gotta go. Don’t want to mess up a timeline by getting stuck here,” Jack said.

“Jack, the next time we meet…”

“Don’t worry, Doctor. I won’t mention this,” he replied. Then he leaned forward and brushed a kiss against Rose’s forehead. “Take care of him,” he whispered.

She nodded, fighting back tears.

He put the glasses back in her hand, then walked to his team. He waited until the others had gone through before turning back to face his daughter and the Doctor. He just couldn’t help himself.

“I knew you’d grow up to be a handful!” he called, Grinning. He turned and jumped through the portal before the Doctor could respond.  
****

It was two hours later and Jack was sitting on the steps in Autopsy. Tom had given Rose a thorough check-up and despite the two puncture marks on her arm, could find nothing odd in her work-up. She had been given a clean bill of health and Tom and Martha went to a hotel for the night, promising to return with a huge breakfast in the morning. Jack had sent Owen home after the medic had patched up Ianto’s wound; Tosh had left with Owen. Gwen had gone home to Rhys with orders to be back in the morning, prepared to work. She would have to earn his trust, but her actions the past few days were a very good start.

Ianto and Rose were tucked away, sleeping soundly in Jack and Ianto’s bed. Jack had held the two of them until they fell asleep, humming Elle’s lullaby. Once his two loves were sleeping soundly, he had come here to perform his final task. It was something he was not quite ready for, something he just wanted to go away on its own. But he had promised Ianto. He stood and ran his hands over his face.

He pulled the white sheet off Elle’s body and rolled the tray with the water and sponge close to him.

“We learned today that Rose doesn’t like traveling through wormholes. She has quite the ear-piercing wail, you know. I think she gets that from you,” he said as he began to gently clean Elle’s body.

“I saw her today, you know. All grown up and off traveling with the Doctor. I’d love to hear your opinion about that. I can’t tell Ianto; might mess up some timelines. So that’ll have to be our little secret. She looks like you, you know. And don’t worry, she still has Ianto’s nose.”

He took a deep breath when he got to the wound in her stomach.

“I’m sure you know Torchwood protocol says you have to stay here in the Hub. But I promised Ianto…I promised him that if we were ever breached, no one would be able to take you for study. I couldn’t ask him to help me; he has bad memories of the incinerator. So it’ll just be you and me. I’d say a prayer, but we both know I don’t believe. And I never bothered to ask about your beliefs.”

He paused and sighed.

“I’m going to do everything I can to keep them safe, Elle. I promise.” He leaned down and kissed her forehead. “Thank you.”


	75. Though We Deem the Captive Dead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the past gives its blessing to the future and we are moved by a eulogy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many thanks to angstosaur, whose fics helped me get my brain back into the world of Torchwood and the mindset of the Jack/Ianto dynamic. For all that happens, this chapter is about the relationship between these two men and her stories gave me a beautiful touchstone. And to bookwrm89, who looked this over and let me know if I had gone too far off the reservation.
> 
>  
> 
> Also, so, so sorry. I completely thought I had finished posting this. Bad Author!!

**75—Though We Deem the Captive Dead**  
Ianto sat hunched in the rocking chair, leaning over the arm to prop his diary on the little side table as he wrote. Through trial and error, he had discovered the nursery was the only room in the Hub (or Ianto’s flat, or Elle’s house) where Jack wouldn’t disturb him. For the three days since Elle’s death, Jack had been watching him like a hawk. Ianto knew why he was watching; not because he was so relieved Ianto was still alive (which he was), but because he was waiting for the break. Jack had a small idea what Elle had meant to Ianto; he knew Elle had been a link to a time before Cardiff, before his betrayal. She had loved him and protected him. She had been willing to take on the challenge of Jack because healing Jack had meant everything to Ianto. But Jack didn’t know everything she was; couldn’t understand everything Ianto’d lost.

Ianto snorted and looked at the lines he had just written. Well, maybe Jack could understand what he had lost; to hear Jack tell it—rather, to hear Jack gloss over and _not_ tell it—Jack had lost unspeakable things in his very long life.

Ianto sighed and sat back, resting his pen in the pages of the diary. Jack was waiting for him to break. For him to hit that wall and break down. He was waiting for it, too. So he kept coming into the nursery, not just because it was the only place that Jack gave him peace, but because it was the place in the Hub that still held Elle the most.

He knew he couldn’t keep this up forever, and he would very much prefer to have a breakdown here, in the solitude of the Hub, than while in the field—or worse, in front of everyone else. Martha and Tom had left that morning, over Martha’s protests, but UNIT wanted her back pronto, which meant that only the core team was left to witness any downfall he might have. He found cold comfort in that.

“Ianto?”

Ianto snapped his head up to look at Jack standing in the doorway, a drowsy Rose in his arms.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb you,” Jack said. Which was partially truth and partially fat, stinking like. Jack had hated letting Ianto out of his sight recently, but he was also trying very hard to just let Ianto grieve in his own way. Unfortunately, Jack’s only frame of reference for Ianto grieving were those cold, desolate days after Lisa’s death. Ianto had been fractured and angry and penitent all at once. Even in his own anger, it had hurt Jack’s heart to see it.

This? This broke his heart. And not a clean break; it was the jagged kind of break that festered. Jack had said his own goodbyes to Elle, but Ianto still hadn’t had a chance to let go. There were times, when he saw the look Ianto had right now, that Jack was sure he would end up grieving for the loss of both of them. It made him contemplate things that scared him to his core.

“She ready to go down for the night?” Ianto asked, rising from the rocker.

“Just about. I thought you’d like to help put her down.”

Rose chose that moment to stick a tiny fist in the air, clocking Jack in the jaw.

“Hey, now,” Jack soothed, “if you want Tad to put you down, just say so. No need for violence,” Jack said.

Ianto smiled softly. “She’s a Torchwood baby. Violence is going to be a way of life.”

“It doesn’t have to be,” Jack said quietly, taking Ianto’s place in the rocking chair. He made a concerted effort to ignore the diary sitting on the side table.

Ianto shrugged and turned to get Rose’s dummy. He knew as soon as he put it in her line of sight, she would narrow her eyes in a very Elle-like manner (despite Owen’s protests that she was too young for such interaction); she knew the dummy meant sleepy time. He froze as he heard Jack’s voice behind him.

_“Inama nushif_  
Al-asir hiy ayish  
Lia-anni  
Zaratha zarati  
Hatt al-hudad  
Al-maahn al-baiid  
Ay-yah idare  
Adamm malum  
Inama nishuf al a sadarr  
Eann zaratha zarati  
Kali bakka a tishuf ahatt  
Al hudad alman dali” 

Ianto was unable to restrain the sob that tore from his lips. He doubled forward, clutching the edge of the dresser. Somewhere in the rush of grief, the thought that he had never really heard Jack sing came to him, but was dismissed by the images of Elle with their daughter. Elle laughing with him. Elle’s face glazed with pleasure. Elle in her scary, determined fury. Elle reaching out a hand to save him from madness.

“Ianto?”

He took a deep breath and turned to his lover, tears streaming down his face. “Jack,” he gasped.

Jack moved quickly, settling Rose in her cot before hurrying to Ianto and taking the younger man in his arms as his knees gave out. Ianto held Jack’s upper arms hard enough to bruise as he buried his face against the older man’s chest as choking sobs burst from his own chest.

“Gods, Jack!” he gasped.

Jack dropped to his knees gently, taking Ianto with him and rocking him slowly. He muttered soothing nonsense words in his native tongue, trying to keep Ianto stable without impeding his emotional release.

Rose began crying in her crib, obviously upset by her father’s tears. Not for the first time, Jack wished he could be in two places at once. 

Ianto instinctively turned towards the sound, blindly trying to claw out of Jack’s arms.

“Ssh, it’s okay. She’s fine, she’s just upset. She’ll settle,” Jack whispered. “It’s her pissed cry, not her hurt cry,” he soothed, holding Ianto tight against his body and rocking him.

“She needs—” Ianto gasped. “She needs her m-mother.”

“I know,” Jack replied, his heart and voice breaking.

Ianto started crying harder, harsh, hiccupping sobs that shook his whole body. Jack held him, humming a lullaby from his own childhood to soothe his lover. After some time, Ianto’s body ceased to shake and he slumped heavily against Jack. Jack settled into a sitting position, Ianto held in his lap. Rose quieted about the same time, soft snuffling noises finally giving way to soft, sleeping breathing patterns.

“I wasn’t ready,” Ianto finally whispered.

“We never are,” Jack replied.

Ianto pulled back slightly so he could meet Jack’s gaze. His fingers dug into Jack’s arms painfully. “You don’t understand. I was ready for her to die. With the pregnancy, I knew it was a distinct possibility. Once they…” he had to stop for a deep breath, collecting himself. He lowered his head, almost ashamed at what he was about to say. “Once she was back in Torchwood Four, I knew she was going to die. Whether they killed her or she died escaping with Rose, I knew she would die. I was ready for her to die. I was prepared.”

He paused and looked up at Jack. “I wasn’t ready for her to be _gone_.”

“Oh, Ianto,” Jack said, for once at an utter loss. “Ianto, I—”

“Just stay here,” he whispered, pressing his face against Jack’s neck and wrapping his arms around Jack’s waist. “Just stay here, with me. With us. I need to know you aren’t gone.”

“I’m not. I won’t.”

Ianto shook his head. “Don’t. Just for now, I need this.”

Jack turned his head to kiss Ianto’s temple. “You have it. You have me. You have us.”

Ianto nodded. Jack began to rock him again, ignoring the numbness in his limbs as he continued the motion even as Ianto slept in his arms.  
****

“Tell me about her,” Jack whispered into the darkness.

Ianto lifted his head from its position on Jack’s chest to look at him. They were tangled in the bed, stripped down to just their shorts, sharing heat and comfort. After assuring themselves that Rose was down for the count, they had come to Jack’s room to continue healing Ianto.

“You knew Elle,” Ianto replied softly.

“I did. But pretend I didn’t. Tell me about your Elle.”

Ianto sighed and laid his back on Jack’s chest. “It’s fine, Jack. I’ll be fine. I just had to get that out of my system.”

Jack nodded, threading his hand through Ianto’s hair. “I’d like to know. I’d like some stories to tell our daughter about her mother that aren’t R-rated.”

Ianto snickered. “She and I were Secure Archives, Jack. What makes you think _I_ have age-appropriate stories?”

“You are a much better storyteller than I am,” Jack replied, pressing a kiss to Ianto’s forehead.

Ianto rested his hand over Jack’s heart. “Shall I tell you about the first time she saved my life?”

Jack’s arm tightened around Ianto’s waist.

“Please.”  
****

Tosh held her fingers over her mouth as she watched the footage in front of her.

“I thought you had sworn off the inter-team, inter-Hub voyeurism,” Owen said, coming up behind her.

She turned to face him, tears brimming in her eyes.

“What is it? Are they okay?”

“This is last night,” Tosh replied, turning back to her monitor. Owen stood behind her, his hands on her shoulders. His fingers tightened as he watched the scene in the nursery unfold.

Owen knew he should feel awkward and ashamed watching such a private moment, but instead he felt comfort and relief. Relief that Ianto was finally starting to truly grieve. Comforted by the fact that Jack was there to catch him; that this time, Jack stayed around to fix the broken parts. They watched as Jack lifted the sleeping Ianto in his arms and carried him out of the nursery.

Owen looked around, wondering if Ianto was back in action today.

“Here,” Tosh said, flipping the feed to the kitchenette. Jack was sitting at the table, feeding Rose her morning bottle. Ianto was making the first round of coffee.

Tosh turned on the sound.

“And that is how your Tad seduced your Daddy—”

“Jack!”

“Right. Age-appropriate.” He turned his attention back to Rose. “That’s how your Tad _helped_ your Daddy bring Aunt Myfanwy into the family.”

Rose pushed her bottle away and brought her hand to her mouth.

“She keeps trying to put her entire fist in her mouth,” Jack said, his brow furrowed.

“Wonder who she gets _that_ from,” Ianto muttered.

“Oh, and _I’m_ the age-inappropriate one?!” Jack replied, Grinning.

Ianto brought Jack’s coffee over to him, trading the blue-and-white striped mug for their daughter.

“I am afraid, _baban_ , that there is just no hope for you,” he said, smiling down at Rose.

Jack handed the bottle to Ianto, who managed to get Rose to take it back and continue eating.

Tosh grabbed Owen’s hand as they heard Ianto begin to sing a familiar lullaby.  
****

Three days later, Jack came through the hidden door into the tourist office to find Ianto resting his head on top of the phone.

“Didn’t go well, then?” Jack asked.

Ianto turned into Jack’s embrace, sighing. “Rose?” he asked.

“Learning the intricacies of Mainframe from Tosh. How did it go?”

Ianto sighed and leaned back. “As well as can be expected. They’re expecting a funeral.”

Jack swore under his breath. Ianto had insisted it was time to call Daniel Webber to inform him of Elle’s death. The attorney had sounded genuinely sorry for the loss. He had then begun telling Ianto what would need to be done now. Ianto was amenable to most of it—meetings to go over the execution of the will and to assure the rest of the Atreides that the will was binding and not made up under coercion. When he had told Ianto the Atreides would demand a funeral, Ianto had had to tell him that, per Elle’s wishes, her body had been cremated. Webber had paused, telling him the Atreides wouldn’t like that. Ianto had bit back the retort that he didn’t give a bloody good damn what they did or did not like. The phone call had finally ended after Ianto had agreed to a funeral service to be held near Cardiff. He and Jack weren’t traveling far from the Hub with Rose and they weren’t yet ready to leave her behind.

“They know we don’t have a body for them?” Jack asked.

Ianto nodded. “From what I know of her family, I’m guessing it’s more about the formality and tradition than anything. Webber seemed positive he could maneuver around them. He said we should expect contact from the family soon.”

Jack stiffened. He didn’t want a bunch of rich, entitled people stomping over his turf and demanding things from his family.

Ianto pressed a kiss to his lips. “It’ll be all right. They’ll come here to the tourist office like Webber did; they don’t have to know about anything else. You will have to refrain from ogling whomever they send, though. We need to give the proper impression,” Ianto said, a gleam in his eye.

Jack laughed. “As long as you let me do some serious ogling of you later.”

“When is your ogling ever serious?”

Jack kissed Ianto hard, feeling his lover smile against his mouth. “It’s always serious when it’s you I’m ogling.”

“Of course. Come on, let’s go rescue our daughter before she’s permanently bonded to Mainframe.”

“If her first words are in binary, I’m never forgiving Tosh,” Jack agreed.  
****

Jack had expected many things from the promised Atreides contact. He expected grim-featured men sneering at Ianto’s chosen partner. He expected cold women demanding he hand over his daughter to her relatives. He expected handsome young men to try to seduce custody away (okay, that one _might_ have been wishful thinking).

What he absolutely was not expecting was the raven-haired woman with the huge grin who walked into the tourist office the next day.

“Gina Atreides. I’m here for the baby,” she said.

Jack pulled his gun on her without actually thinking about it.

“Woah,” she said, putting her hands up. “Let me rephrase that: I’m here _because_ of the baby. To be here _for_ Rose. Not, you know, to take her.”

“Ianto?” Jack questioned.

Ianto came out of the small office. “Hello, Gina.”

“Your partner has a lot to be desired in the way of manners,” Gina replied, waving at him with both hands still raised.

“She’s okay, Jack,” Ianto said.

Jack put his Webley away and Gina lowered her hands. She pushed her sunglasses off her face and into her hair. When she narrowed her eyes to get a better look at Jack, he recognized the look and the curve of cheekbones. _Younger than Elle; probably closer to Ianto’s age_ , he thought.

Ianto came around the desk to hug her. “How on Earth did you manage to convince them to send you?”

“Oh, Elle stuck a letter for me in Webber’s pocket the last time she was here. The poor man thought he was smuggling out a change of heart entreaty,” Gina explained.

“Sorry. For those of us who don’t speak Atreides code?” Jack asked.

“Webber’s people have been handling my family’s affairs before there was a legal system. He is loyal to the Atreides above all; he figured a letter being smuggled out meant Elle really wanted the Atreides to step in on Rose’s behalf. Way to go, not falling into the Atreides naming trap, by the way.”

Ianto’s smile tightened. “Elle wouldn’t have it.”

Gina sighed. “Ah, to be the black sheep.” She reached out and took Ianto’s hand, squeezing it. “I really am sorry, Ianto. I know you loved her.”

“So did you. And I can at least grieve publicly.”

She shrugged. “An heiress has to do what an heiress has to do. Now, we need to talk about the funeral.”

“I thought Ianto already got them to agree to have it here in Cardiff,” Jack said.

“The location is just the first step. You need to be briefed on etiquette, who talk to, who to avoid and where to sit.” She paused to take a deep breath. “And you must bring Rose.”

Jack stiffened. He didn’t like to be told what to do, especially when it came to his daughter.

Ianto put a hand on his arm. “Let’s just hear her out.”

“That would be best for everyone.”  
****

“I still don’t like this,” Tosh said softly in Jack’s ear.

Jack kept his face expressionless, then raised his hand to cover his mouth as he replied. “Yes, I know. But we have to do this. Now hush or I’m turning you off.”

Jack and Ianto were just making their way to the doors of the church for the service. He tried to ignore how white Ianto’s knuckles were as he held Rose bundled up and close to his chest. Tosh and Owen had been worried about letting Ianto and Jack go into the lion’s den, as Owen had put it. Ianto had assured Owen he had Gina’s word (and why he took the woman at her word still baffled Jack—“Because Elle trusted her” was just not a good enough reason in Jack’s book) they would be safe, but Tosh still worried. Which was why Jack and Ianto were outfitted with the most recent version of Torchwood’s comms and Rose had a microtracker under the skin in her ankle. Rose had been thoroughly unimpressed with the implementation of said tracker into her body.

As they approached the doors, Jack saw that everyone was being greeted by three women under heavy veils. Gina was waiting patiently with them, pulling out a polite smile when she had to. She was subtly looking for Jack and Ianto. When she saw them, she nodded solemnly. Jack and Ianto walked up to them.

“So this is the child,” the first veiled woman said.

“And these are her parents,” Gina said.

“Her mother is dead,” the second woman said.

Jack, having been previously warned by Gina, held his tongue.

“I’ll find them seats,” Gina said. She made a show of taking Ianto’s elbow as she led him and Jack into the church. She guided them up to the front pew and bade them sit down. She sat with them, closest to the aisle, sandwiching Ianto and Rose between her and Jack.

Twenty minutes later, the heavy doors of the church closed and the first veiled woman rose to speak. She pushed her veil back, revealing strong features that hinted at her relation to Elle. She spoke in a language Jack vaguely recognized as a form of Greek. He looked sideways at Gina and saw tears in her eyes, confirming she knew what was being said. They sat through what Jack now recognized as eulogies from the other two veiled ladies before Gina reached over to squeeze Ianto’s hand. The third veiled woman finished speaking; the only part Jack caught was “Iphigenia Atreides”. He was a bit startled to see Gina stand up and walk to the podium.

Gina looked out over the congregation before she began to speak. “Inama nishuf, al-asiri ayi. Lianni zeratha zerati. Al ir huda alman albaid aya libarri adam alam.” She paused and took a deep breath, then turned her head to look directly at Jack and Ianto.

“Though we deem the captive dead, yet does she live. For her seed is my seed and her voice is my voice. And she sees unto the farthest reaches of possibility. Yea, unto the vale of the unknowable does she see because of me. Let it be deemed the captive lives.”

Jack heard Ianto draw in a sharp breath as he reached for his hand. There were gasps and quiet murmurs from the rest of the congregation. Gina had done something; something unexpected. Jack knew he would have to ask exactly what all that meant later, but he knew Gina had just gone out on a limb for them.

Gina bowed her head when she was done and waited for the first veiled woman to come take her place before returning to her seat with Jack and Ianto.

Ianto reached out and took her hand. They held their heads high and listened to the final words of the service. The veiled woman and her compatriots headed for the back of the church. Gina pulled Ianto up with her and Jack followed. They waited in the atrium for the rest of the attendees to file past them, nodding to Jack and Ianto and pausing to look at baby Rose. Once everyone had filed out, Gina hugged and kissed both Jack and Ianto, then nodded.

“What just happened?” Jack asked as they settled in the car.

“I think Gina just told the entire Atreides family to back the hell off,” Ianto replied.

“I did better than that,” Gina said, sticking her head in Ianto’s open window. “I made you part of the family. Now they have to show you respect. Even if it’s grudgingly.”

“Don’t _do_ that!” Jack said. It appeared sneaking up on people was an Atreides trait. He couldn’t _wait_ until Rose started using it.

“Sorry. You guys wanna give me a ride back into town?”

Ianto eyed the line of limousines outside the church.

She grinned. “None of them are going to the wake.”

“What wake?” he asked, unlocking the doors.

She rolled her eyes. “The one in town. I rented out that pub you guys like so much.”

“How?” Jack asked as she climbed into the back seat beside Rose.

“I rang and asked them nicely. And then I threw a lot of money at them. Phalanges!”

Jack looked in the rear view mirror to see Gina waving her fingers in front of Rose’s face, making the baby giggle.

“The whole pub? Just for us?”

“Oh, I arranged for some special guests to come in. Dancing phalanges!” She looked up to meet Jack’s gaze in the mirror. “Come on, we’re going to be late.”  
****

Ianto walked into the pub, flanking Gina, who had Rose in her arms. Ianto was starting to suspect the Atreides had some sort of magic, as she had managed to charm Jack into letting her carry Rose. Jack had been very leery of letting anyone but Ianto carry her since the abduction—even Tosh had a hard time wrangling auntie time. 

Jack was on Gina’s other side and stopped dead just inside the door of the pub. The place was rather full.

“I thought you said you rented the place out?” Jack asked.

“I did. These people are all here for Elle. Some old friends and…Ianto?” she asked, turning to look at the Welshman.

Ianto looked over her head a Jack. “Survivors of Torchwood One.”

“Elle kept in touch with a few of them; I thought they’d like to know. Kerrie suggested a wake,” Gina said.

“Kerrie’s here?” Ianto asked, looking around. He spotted a blonde at the bar with vivid blue streaks in her hair. My Little Pony streaks that only Kerrie Joplin could pull off.

“The woman who made the Bot? Her, I’ve got to meet,” Jack said.

“Jack!” Tosh called out, waving at her place near the door. She and Owen were sitting together, holding down a table with room for Jack and Ianto.

They moved over and Gina watched Tosh’s eyes light up at the fact that Rose was in someone else’s arms. This meant she could get a turn.

“Tosh, come with me. There’s someone you need to meet,” Ianto said, taking Tosh’s arm and steering her to the bar. Jack followed, desperately wanting to see Tosh in action with a person of her level of expertise.

“I may never see her again,” Owen lamented to Gina.

Gina smiled at him.

“Thank you for doing this. Torchwood usually doesn’t have funerals or wakes. Maybe that should change,” he said, watching Jack and Ianto at the bar talking to Kerrie.

“I’m so sorry, Ianto, love. I kept trying to get her to come vacation with me in America, but she wanted to stick close to you,” Kerrie said to Ianto after she had let him out of a huge bear hug.

“Kerrie, this is Jack Harkness.”

“Oh, I recognize you from the surveillance videos One had. You taking care of our Ianto?” she said.

“I’m taking very good care of him and Rose. Promise.”

“Sorry, who’s Rose?”

“Gina didn’t tell you?” Ianto asked.

“Tell me what?”

“About Elle’s—our—daughter, Rose.”

“There’s a _baby_?” Kerrie shouted. 

The whole room seemed to pause and turn to look at Gina, who was still holding Rose.

“You do realize your turn is over?” Owen asked.

Gina smiled and turned Rose over to Kerrie, who started telling the baby a story about the first time she had met her mother.  
****

Ianto was exhausted as he peeled off his clothes. Jack, equally tired, sprawled on their bed watching him. As much as he liked undressing Ianto, there was something singularly erotic about watching the young man take care of the task himself.

“Long day,” Jack said.

Ianto nodded as he yawned. “But a good one. It was good to see some of those people again. To hear all those stories about Elle.”

“She was quite the rebellious devil as a child.”

Ianto crawled into bed beside Jack. “The safest thing for Cardiff may just be to ship Rose off to boarding school when she hits puberty.”

“At the very least, we have to have Tosh upgrade and toddler-proof the weapons vault’s security,” Jack replied, lifting his arm so Ianto could slide next to him.

“You know what the best thing is?”

“Hmm. Post-funeral, post-wake, I’m-so-glad-we’re-alive-sex?”

Ianto laughed and pinched Jack’s nipple. “No. The best thing is that, with what Gina did today and with Torchwood Four gone, we don’t have to worry about anyone taking Rose from us.”

Jack ran his hand through Ianto’s hair. Ianto was right. But he did have to worry about losing Ianto and/or Rose to the rigors and dangers of Torchwood. He kissed Ianto’s forehead. Not for the first time, he wondered if he had made the right decision to keep his family here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I fully and freely admit that the lullaby was written by Brian Tyler (from the _Children of Dune_ soundtrack), with lyrics interpolated from Frank Herbert. The speech given at the funeral is Frank Herbert's; according to the _Dune Encyclopedia_ , he spoke the words at Chani's funeral.


	76. Epilogue--Yet Does She Live

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which several offers are made and a decision is reached.

**Epilogue—Yet Does She Live**  
“It won’t work,” Tosh said.

Jack looked up to see her standing just inside his office.

“What won’t work?” he asked her.

Tosh closed the door behind her. “You know what,” she said when she turned back to him.

“Enlighten me,” Jack said, tossing his pen on the desk.

“You can’t Retcon him and set him up with a nice life in the country with Rose. Even if he bought the story of her mother’s death you’d set up, it would never work.”

“Why not?”

“Because every time Ianto looked at her, he’d see you. He’d see you and he’d see Elle and it would break his heart all over again. And you know it.”

“I have to protect them. They’re the most important people in the world to me.”

“I’ll do it.”

“What?” Jack asked, startled.

“I’ll do it. I don’t have the emotional tie to Rose you and Ianto do. We could set up a believable adoption story. You could get me a job with computers I could do from home so I wouldn’t have to leave her for long stretches of time. Best of all, you wouldn’t have to lose both Rose and Ianto.”

Jack stood up and walked around to stand in front of Tosh. He gently took her face in his hands and leaned forward to kiss her softly. 

“Thank you, Toshiko.”

“You’re saying no,” she said, looking up into his eyes.

“I’ll think about it.”

She nodded and left.

“What did you say to Tosh?” Gwen asked a few minutes later as she came into his office.

“Nothing harsh, I promise,” Jack said, a little more sharply than he meant to. He and Gwen were still wary of each other at times.

“Oh. Owen’s elbow deep in an alien autopsy and said he needs to talk to you right away. It’s important.”

“Anything to avoid paperwork,” he said, getting up.

Gwen nodded and walked back to her desk.

“What’s up, Owen?” Jack asked, leaning over the railing in autopsy.

“Ianto still upstairs with the baby?” Owen asked.

“Yes. Why?”

“I’m a doctor,” Owen began.

“I should hope so, after all the toys I’ve given you to play with.”

“Shut up, Jack.”

“Sorry,” Jack said, raising his hands.

“I could come up with a believable medical history to explain any genetic eccentricities Rose may have.”

“I’m counting on it.”

“I could make one up that would even fool myself,” he said, looking Jack in the eye.

Jack laughed softly. It seemed everyone was on to him. He thought he had been far more discreet in his searches and inquiries over the past few weeks.

“First Tosh, now you. I appreciate the offer, Owen. I really do. But the more I think about it, sending Rose away—with any of you—is not the best solution.”

“Oh, good. Hate to have someone else make my coffee,” Owen said, grinning up at him.

Jack smiled. Owen returned the smile and they stared awkwardly at each other for a few moments.

“I have some paperwork to finish up,” Jack finally said.

“Yeah, this body isn’t getting any fresher.”

Gwen was waiting for him in his office. “For the record, I’d offer, but there’s Rhys to consider. And I don’t think Ianto would be comfortable with me raising his daughter somewhere,” she said in a rush, tears in her eyes.

Jack smiled and reached out to squeeze her shoulder. It was a far cry from his previous displays of affection with her, he knew, but it was a start. “Thank you.”

She nodded as she pulled away. Then she hurried back to her desk as Ianto came through the cog door, Rose in his arms.

“How’s she doing?” Jack asked Ianto once he reached the office.

“Good. I learned something new about her today,” Ianto replied, reluctantly relinquishing Rose into Jack’s arms.

“Oh? What’s that?” Jack asked as he lightly rocked the gurgling baby.

“Rose does not like the sound the telephone in the tourist office makes when it rings.”

“Really.”

“Ear-piercing wail would not be an inaccurate description.”

Jack laughed, then looked over at Ianto. His lover stood there, hands in his pockets and a smile of joy and humor on his face.

“I’m sorry, Ianto,” Jack said.

“What for?”

“For even thinking I could send the two of you away; make you forget who you are.”

Ianto walked over to Jack and put an arm around his waist. “If I honestly thought it would protect Rose, I’d let you. But even if the Retcon worked, I would always be Rose’s father and the man who loves you.”

Jack whimpered softly and leaned in to kiss Ianto. “I love you,” he breathed against Ianto’s lips.

“I love you,” Ianto replied, resting his head on Jack’s shoulder.

“That’s not fair. My arms are full; I can’t hold you properly.”

“Let’s put her down for the night,” Ianto said, taking Rose out of his arms.

Jack ran to the door of his office and yelled at everyone to go home—pronto. Then he hurried down into his quarters, to spend some time with his family.

**End**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for reading and staying for the ride. This is my _Torchwood_ magnum opus and I hope you loved it as much as I do.


End file.
